


Anatopism: An Alternate Universe Story

by CobaltLion



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Drama, Gen, Original Character(s), Science Fiction, Zootopia Police Department
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2018-10-06 10:02:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 113,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10332146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobaltLion/pseuds/CobaltLion
Summary: Judy, Nick and the ZPD investigate a violent storm that is opening portals around they city and dropping confused, potentially insane mammals all over the place. When they find one of the survivors, a lion named Aaron Ledbetter they help him to rediscover who and where he is, and rally with the other Portal Refugees to combat a growing conspiracy that has followed them.





	1. Arrowhead

_ Anatopism (noun): A object or person that is out of place in its environment. -Collins English Dictionary _

 

**Fort Benning, Columbus, GA**

 

Brian Graham parked his car at the civilian contractor parking lot and grabbed his briefcase. Walking across the hot blacktop towards the utilitarian-looking windowless building he paused as he passed by a large fence surrounding what looked like high voltage power pylons, except each one was fitted with narrow rectangular flat panels that faced inward to the center of the cement pad they were built on. A soldier standing outside the fencing noticed him looking at the pylons and harshly waved him away, indicating that he should move on. Brian held his hands up in an apologetic manner and kept walking towards the closest building.

 

Above the door was a small sign, faded in the sunlight: 'DARPA Labs, 1-5'. A pair of sentries outside checked his ID card, security papers, and scanned his palm veins for a biometric ID.

“Go on in. Office five. Don't stop at any other doors,” one of the soldiers informed him without a hint of welcome in his voice. Brian walked through the now unlocked door, holding the briefcase tight to his chest.

 

The inside of the building was white painted cinder blocks, and worn linoleum tile lit by overhead fluorescent lights. No time was spent on aesthetics here. He passed by a door sealed with vault door bolt locks and manned by another pair of guards. _Lab 4: Project Arrowhead_ , was posted above the door. He chanced a quick look at the door more closely, trying to avoid making eye contact with the guards, and hurried toward the next section, a much planer door that was unmanned. _Office 5: Project Babel._ He opened the door and walked in.

 

Inside was rows of typical office cubicles, people in business attire taping away at keyboards. The woman in the closest cubicle to where he entered poked her head out. “Can I help you?”

 

“I'm new here. Looking for medical.” Brian replied, holding up his temporary ID card. The woman directed him across the threadbare carpeted room to a door on the far right wall. He crossed the room to the side. A man in a pair of royal blue scrubs sat inside working at a laptop. He looked up as Brian approached and smiled. His name tag read _Aaron Ledbetter, RN-Medical Supervisor_.

 

“Hey, welcome. You must be Brian.” He said, shaking hands firmly with him.

 

“That I am. Good to meet you.”

 

“Come on, set your stuff down and I'll show you around. We can get you a parking pass and regular card later. Your desk is going to be over here, next to mine.”

 

Brian looked at the cheap wooden desk. On it was a picture of Aaron, wearing hiking gear and his arm around a thin, brown, mixed breed dog; as well as a deep blue polished crystal with embossed periodic table symbol on the front of its wooden stand. “That's nice. What is it?”

 

“Oh, that?” Aaron looked at the stone. “It's a cobalt-II alumite crystal. It was a gift.” He smiled proudly at it. “Follow me, I'll show you the med labs.”

 

They walked through a medium sized room, decorated much the same as the entry hall had been with the exception of several chairs and some stretchers placed at intervals throughout.

 

“So, you're aware we're doing work with gene transposition between human and animal test subjects. Purpose of the research is beyond our pay grade, but you and I are mostly collecting lab work: blood, cell scrapings, occasional tissue biopsies. I also handle analysis and data compilation, plus make sure everyone here is safe and healthy. You'll be helping me with the volunteers we get for samples.” Arron explained, gesturing at the stations around the room.

 

“Yeah, I read the research abstract you sent me. Any major breakthroughs?” Brian asked, inspecting a centrifuge.

 

“Nothing major. We had a rabbit that was born with purple eyes a while ago, but that's about it.” Aaron shrugged. “It's enough to keep the funding going.”

 

“Oh! Speaking of; what's up with all those towers outside the building? I saw them when I was coming in.” Brian asked, somewhat excited now. Aaron stopped mid-stride and turned around.

 

“Those belong to Arrowhead, next door. I'm sure they gave you the briefing about this place, but the basics are: Don't look at Arrowhead, don't talk about Arrowhead, and don't ask about Arrowhead.” He said, grimly, listing off the bullet points like they had been drilled into him.

 

“Ah, right...” Brian paused. “So, what are they doing in there?”

 

“What did I just say?” Aaron glared at Brian like he was an annoying child who asked 'Why?' too many times.

 

“Sorry...” Brian shifted his eyes, changing subjects. “So, how did you get recruited into this?” He asked.

 

“I used to be an Army Combat Medic Specialist before I left and got my nursing degree. After I finished my masters, I still had some buddies left and one of them is working with DARPA now. He twisted my arm to come here.” Arron said, still serious, but not giving Brian that disappointed look anymore.

 

“Army Medic, huh? I bet you've seen some shi--” Brian was cut off by loud blare from an alarm horn that began sounding in every room over the offices. “The hell is that?” He shouted over the noise.

 

“I don't know. Fire alarms? Wait here.” Aaron commanded. Outside the med bay, people had stood up from their desks and were looking around nervously. A young soldier, one of the ones Brian recognized as the guard from in the hall next door burst into the offices.

 

“Come on, everyone out of the building! We've got a core breach!” He shouted. “Let's go!”

 

“Core breach? What do you mean?” Aaron yelled back as people began to rush the exit to the office area and into the hall.

 

“No time for that. We need everyone out of the building right now!”

 

“Okay, you heard the man, everyone go!” Arron began waving people out of the door and towards the fleeing civilians and soldiers. A loud snapping sound came from outside the building. Brian ran with them, leaving his bag inside and followed by Aaron.

 

 

Outside, the sunny midday sky had turned dark and cloudy, steely blue-gray clouds rushing toward a point that seemed to originate over the array Brian had passed by. Arcs of bright red electricity, like bloody lightning bolts were shooting from all over the towers, hitting the ground with a sound like a whip crack from the heavens as a heavy wind roared like a freight train. Brian paused, looking in awe at the sight as Aaron overtook him.

 

“Keep running, go!” He screamed over the cacophony to Brian. “Get to the--” He never finished his sentence as an arc struck him directly, his body vanishing, leaving not even a wisp of smoke.

 

* * *

 

**Unknown place, Unknown time**

 

Aaron, or what had been him, floated in the emptiness of infinity. There was no thinking, there was no breathing, there was no existence. There was only forever, surrounding him and through him. A point of light, mathematically small and growing, or was it huge and moving toward him? expanded in the distance. It quickly bore down on him, or maybe it took eternity to get there. There was screamingly loud silence as the light erupted around him, and pain. Pain that could barely be imagined, like every bone breaking, re-knitting and breaking again all in an instant that took an endless time to pass. Then darkness again, and a sensation of falling.

 

 


	2. All The Way Down

**Zootopia, Downtown District**

 

Nick Wilde spent his day off doing his favorite activity: that was, nothing of socially redeeming value at all. He lounged on the couch, wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a half unbuttoned shirt, a drink in his paw, watching TV. Judy Hopps, ever hyperactivly productive, roamed about the apartment, holding a stack of papers and pen. She occasionally stopped to write something, chewing on the back end of her pen with her front teeth. She stopped in the living room and gave a cursory glace at the TV. The two officers, after well over two years on the force had pooled resources and gotten a place together. It had afforded Judy the ability to move out of her previous apartment that had been no more then a greasy appliance box with noisy neighbors, and Nick out from whatever bridge he was dwelling under at the time.

 

“What are you watching?” She asked.

 

“Some movie. It's pretty great. Something about portals opening all over the city and dropping animals everywhere. They even made it up to look like a ZNN news broadcast.” He responded, never looking away from the screen.

 

On screen, the words”BREAKING NEWS” flashed in the lower corner as the news anchor continued her comments “...authorities are baffled by the portals appearances and at this time we have no answered to what may be causing...”As she spoke, the camera zoomed in high up over one of the crosstown bridges where a black tear had appeared against the stormy sky, sparking with red bolts of energy. What appeared to be an antelope fell from the blackness with a scream as she fell what looked like hundreds of feet towards the river. Nick laughed heartily at the sight and Judy shuddered. “You couldn't pay me enough to do stunts like that.

 

“Eh, it's just a movie. I'm sure they have a good safety net.” Nick said distractedly. “Kind of hard to follow the plot on this. Not sure where they're going with it. Seems kind of bizzare.” Outside the apartment thunder pealed. “Is it storming outside?”

 

Judy peeked outside the nearby window next to the TV. “No. Clear blue sky out there. Not sure where that came from. It's nice out though; we should go do something.” She suggested, scanning the city skyline for the source of the noise.

 

“Eh, maybe after this show is over.” A muffled electronic chiming sound came from somewhere and Judy jumped.

 

“Oh! My phone, that's my phone!” She ran around the room excitedly. “Where'd I put that thing?”

 

“See carrots? This is why I leave mine on silent when I'm not working. Too much getting up and having to do things.” Nick advised, turning back to the TV.

 

She found her phone in the bedroom, half buried in a bed sheet, and managed to grab it before the ringing stopped. It was Chief Bogo. She also noticed that there were five missed calls from the same number, all back-to-back.

From the couch, Nick rotated an ear towards the bedroom, listening in on the conversation. Judy was a pacer when she used the phone, and her voice faded and grew as she moved aimlessly room to room.

“Hey Chief, sorry I missed your calls...What are we doing? Well, I'm just writing down some ideas for...Nick? Yeah, he's here. He's watching some movie about portals opening up all over...Uh-huh. What?”

 

Judy sounded alarmed. She ran from to the front room and looked at the television, her eyes wide and nose twitching rapidly. “Yeah...No sir...Uh-huh.” Nick turned now to look at what was concerning her so much. She looked scared, and was fixated on the movie. Mammals were running down the street in a panic as another portal opened up close to the ground near midtown, dropping a raccoon face first on the street.

 

“Yes sir...Yes...I understand. We'll be there right away.” She hung up the cell phone in what seemed like slow motion, still watching the TV, and dropped it on the floor. Judy looked completely horrified now, jaw hanging open and breathing fast. For a long moment she didn't move, then suddenly her brain caught up to her body and she exploded into action.

 

“Nick! Nick, we gotta go! Hurry up!” She yelled, running to the closet and grabbing her uniform off the hook.

 

“What are you talking about? What's going on?” The sudden change of mood now had his attention as he stood up, looking quizzically at the bedroom.

 

“It's not a movie!” She yelled back and threw his black duty uniform and badge out into the hall.

 

“What? What do you mean?”

 

“It's not a movie, it's really happening! We have to get to the station”

 

On the TV, the news anchor carried on, the same scared tone in her voice that Judy had in hers. “Police are asking animals to please clear off the streets to make way for emergency vehicles while...”

 

Outside, the clear afternoon sky had suddenly become coated in blue-gray clouds.

 

* * *

 

 

Judy and Nick walked on foot through the streets of Zootopia alone. The police advisement for everyone to get off the street had been almost needless. Mammals had fled the roads and public spaces on their own, leaving abandoned cars to sit. There had been vehicle crashes all over the place, grid locking the city. Part of it was due to sheer panic that had come with the portals, part was from animals being dropped directly into the streets, either landing in the road or on cars themselves.

 

Briefing at the station's bullpen had been chaotic. The chief had tried to maintain order and get assignments out, but everyone had too many questions about what was going on. Nick, for once, had sat silently watching the projector screen. He kept thinking about how he had laughed at the TV. _That was real. I just watched someone fall a million feet and die, then I laughed about it_ , he thought.

 

Night had fallen over the city and it was darker than normal. Wind and arcing from the portals had knocked out power over large areas of the districts, and the thick clouds overhead hid any moonlight. Nick and Judy walked cautiously with flashlights. There was broken glass on the sidewalk. A shop window had fractured, spewing shards everywhere that the pair carefully walked around. Judy shined her flashlight into the window. No signs of life, just massive dresses and pants designed for the giant sized census of the population like hippos and elephants. They waved in the high wind like ghosts. Judy turned away from the window. The glass had blown outward, not the other way. Nobody had broken in, but had something come out?

 

Judy's ears flapped in the wind. Her patrol cap had flown off her head hours ago, and she'd given it up as lost. “Do you think it's over?” Nick asked, shining his light far down the path. The radio reports of portals opening had tapered off in the past hour, and the last dispatch call had been almost half an hour ago.

 

“I'm not sure. Come over here, I need to get out of this wind.” They stepped under the awning of a shop, and shielded themselves with trashcan. “The weather still hasn't calmed down any, that's for sure.”

 

As if on cue, the wind accelerated stronger than before, the awning above them snapping violently.

 

“What is going on?” Judy shouted to be heard above the noise. Nick looked around, then fixed his vision ahead. “Judy, look!” He pointed to a spot just ahead of them. A series of small red sparks were jumping from a miniture power junction box between the second and third floor of the building neighboring the shop.

 

“Is that...?” Judy started, creeping forward.

 

“No, stay back here.” Nick pushed her behind his back with an arm.

 

“Dispatch, this is Officer Hopps. We've got...something going on here.” She tried to shield the mic of her radio the best she could to be understood over the rushing air.

 

“Dispatch copies. Do you need backup?”

 

“Stand by.” She said, watching the crimson tendrils jump into the air.

 

As soon as she got the word out of her mouth, there was a crash like an explosion in front of them, the two jumping back and falling on each other. The point were the electricity had originated from tore open into a circle of the purest black, the cold air rushing in to fill the void. Cardinal lighting bolts spat from within it, connecting to the junction box and a nearby traffic sign.

 

“Dispatch, we've got another one!” Nick screamed into his radio, unsure if the could even hear him over the background noise.

 

The body of a lion was ejected from inside the darkness, face down and plummeting at least fifteen feet. He hit the ground with a crunching noise that sounded like a garbage bag full of soup and broken glass, then laid motionless. Almost as soon as he connected, the portal clapped shut with a slapping sound that made Nick's eyes water with the volume. Almost instantly, the electricity died, and the winds calmed to a gentle breeze.

 

“Dispatch, did you copy my last? Another one just opened in front of us. Got a someone out here with us now.”

 

“Copy all. Do you need EMS?” dispatch came through.

 

“Hold on. I'm not even sure if he's alive.”

 

Nick and Judy aimed their lights on the body in front of them. In the poor lighting it was impossible to see if he was breathing. Judy crept forward quietly, Nick following at her hip.

 

“Judy, stay back here. It could be dangerous.” He plead, but she was locked on her goal.

 

“We need to see if he's okay at least.”

 

They stood over the lion who was still face down on the ground, not moving. He was naked, a small trickle of blood oozed from one nostril, and his left forearm had a odd bend to it just above the wrist.

 

Judy bent down to try and see or feel for breathing. As she got within inches of his face, he opened his eyes and made a screaming, moaning sound. Judy screeched even louder, and lept backwards by a foot. She and Nick had their sidearms out before they even registered what had happened, and trained them on the lion. He quieted to a soft moan and wheeze, reaching out with his right paw, claws extending like daggers while he tried to pull himself along the ground with his bad arm. He looked up, and stared Judy directly in the eyes, and she could see the fear in them.

 

“Help...me. The light. It's eternity in there. Help.” His last word dragged off and he collapsed again.

 

“Get an ambulance, Nick.” Judy said, not taking her eyes off the lion.

 

“Right! Yep!” Nick fumbled his radio, catching and almost dropping it several times before he found the transmit button.

 

“Dispatch, 10-18. Need EMS to our location. Got one victim, lion, male. Fell out of a...whatever. Tunguska St, cross streets are 3rd and 4th Ave.

 

“Copy that, sending. Stand by for first aid instructions, ETA to follow.”

 

_Help me. It's eternity in there._ Judy repeated the cryptic message to herself, never taking her eyes off the fallen body once.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anatopism is a story idea I've had floating around my head for a while now ever since reading some of the other Zootopia fanfic works, but I had not decided until recently to write it down. I'd put out feelers in the fandom for what people would think of the idea and got back a mixed response in which the concept was described as “risky.” I came to the conclusion that I would go for it anyway as most of the work I'd written previously had been risky in terms of its genre, which is probably why I have very little published work. 
> 
> This story also represents the first time I've ever ventured into writing fan fiction, and for my initial reservations about doing it, I've found writing this to be fun, and inspiring. 
> 
> I plan on trying to release about a chapter a week, maybe twice a week depending on how real life treats me. My only request is that I'd like for readers to get to past about chapter two before leaving critiques, as I shift the story arc from it's sci-fi beginning to more of the drama tone that I am aiming for. As always, respectful comments are welcome. 
> 
> -MA


	3. What Are We, Who Are They?

**West Paces Medical Center, Emergency Department**

 

Judy and Nick stood beside the stretcher, joined by two other officers from ZPD: Higgins and Leonard. The ED was packed to the eyeballs, and ambulances had been rerouted all over the city owing to overcrowding from all the victims of the events of the evening. Nick had followed the ambulance all the way to the far end of downtown, near Sahara Square. The room contained two beds, each separated by a thin blue curtain that gave for a bare minimum of privacy. Higgins and Leonard had picked up another 'portal crasher', as they called her, from the Rainforest District and had followed their EMS unit as it was rerouted three times to finally end up here. Their subject of interest now lay in the bed behind them, crying quietly.

 

“So, how many are there?” Nick inquired.

 

Higgins shrugged his large shoulders, practically rippling in the effort. “Hard to say. Including yours and ours? Probably hundreds.”

 

“Hundreds? That'd mean one of those things opened every...” Nick counted on his fingers screwing his lip upward and thinking.

 

“About every five to ten minutes.” Leonard finished for him, saving the effort. He was another lion, and a known math nerd. “At least you got one of the late ones. We've been here since almost noon.” He said, thumbing at the sleek black jaguar that occupied the bed beside the unconscious lion that they had gathered around. The jaguar had been crying and refusing to any questions no matter how she was coerced since she had been brought in.

 

“Did yours at least have some ID on him? Got no idea who any of them are so we can start checking the missing mammal database.” Higgins looked back and forth between the two beds.

 

“No. Heck, he didn't even have clothes on when he dropped. Think we have some kind of pervert on our paws.” Nick gave the lion a sideways glace. He'd been covered over in a hospital gown and a sheet, and his arm was now splinted and put in a sling. His other wrist was handcuffed to the bed frame. He might have been unresponsive, but he was still a large predator and that made for an unpredictable situation.

 

“Nah, none of them have.” Responded Leonard. Every single one of 'em was naked when they fell out of those things. No wallets, phones, clothes, anything.”

 

“So you think we're going to find a bunch of empty suits laying around someplace?” Suggested Higgins.

 

“Nope.” Leonard shook his head, his mane fluffing out. “I don't think we'll find anything. I bet whatever happened obliterated any belongings they had.” Leonard was young, and could always be counted on for outlandish, but insightful thoughts, and hoped to make detective one day.

 

“Anyway. Chief is back at HQ and wants some basic details. Names, addresses, and a statement about what they remember. Detectives will take over the rest. We're going to get coffee. You two want anything?” Higgins asked, he and his partner walking out of the treatment room without waiting for an answer.

 

“Oh yeah, hope yours isn't insane like the rest of them.” Leonard called over his shoulder.

 

“What'd he mean by that?” Judy wondered out loud. Just as she said the words, a ram in a lab coat and stethoscope walked into the room.

 

“Well, good news is that his head scan came back negative for anything major. Broke an arm, but that'll heal itself without surgery.” He took a small penlight from his coat pocket and pried open the lions' eyes. Startled, the lion twitched and gasped like he was coming up for air after nearly drowning.

 

“Hey! He is alive!” Nick chuckled and elbowed Judy in the ribs. Judy winced, and looked up, expecting for something to happen

***

Bright light again burned through his eyes, but not as bright as before. What was before? What was now? He gasped at the shock the light, and tried to sit up but he was so weak. He opened his eyes; everything was so blurry. The source of the light moved away from his eyes. Where was he? He could make out a blue broad shape off to his left, and he was lying on something, but what? A bed, or was it the ground? He couldn't remember. Three figures were standing beside him, unevenly shaped and of varying sizes and color. He couldn't make out the details.

 

“Where am I?” He managed to croak out. His throat felt ragged, and he had a faint memory of screaming at something.

 

“West Paces Medical Center in downtown. You're in the emergency department. You've had an eventful night. Just relax. I'm Doctor Lambert” The large, rounded figure said to him, a deep male voice that faded in and out of reality. He tried again to sit up, but couldn't. There was something else too. His right arm was attached to something hard and unyielding. A handcuff. His left arm hurt too much to even be able to move and he could make out a white blur of a shape around it, and immense pressure, like it had been crushed under a weight. He closed his eyes and though. A hospital maybe? He understood the words medical center, doctor, and emergency department, but couldn't remember from where. What did it mean? Why did it hurt so much to think?

 

“Can we ask him a few questions?” Judy asked Dr. Lambert, pulling her carrot shaped pen and voice recorder along with a small pad of paper. Aaron could hear the young female voice, but not tell where it was coming from.

 

“Go ahead, but be careful. He's still groggy and may not be fully in control of himself yet. I'd hate for you to get your cute little ears nibbled on.” The hair on Judy's neck bristled at being called 'cute' in any context, but Nick put a paw on her shoulder and she sighed, letting it go. She jumped up on a chair next to the bed to get herself at eye level with the lion.

 

“Ah, hello there. Officer Judy Hopps. ZPD. I'd like to ask you a few questions.” She rattled off the statement so fast the words almost ran together. On the other side of the curtain, the crying had gotten louder.

 

Aaron opened his eyes again halfway to the source of the voice: crisp, young, female; and tried to force his eyes to focus on the speaker. _Did I have something to help me see?Glasses/Contacts/Myopia/Blindness_. Meaningless words swarmed in his head, but he couldn't figure out what he needed.

 

“Sir, can you tell me your name? Sir?” Judy poked at the bare arm of the lion. Aaron closed his eyes, fighting dizziness. In his mind he saw something. A crystal sitting on a wood desk, dark blue and shining. A symbol carved in the front of it in metal plaque.

 

“Cobalt...” He mumbled, imagining the crystal. Was it something important to him? He didn't know what it meant but it gave him something to focus on and cleared his mind.

 

“Cobalt, huh. Is that a nickname? Never heard of someone with a name like that before.” Nick pressured the lion, remembering what Leonard had said about the victims being crazy.

 

“No. It's...” Aaron's train of though ran off the tracks and crashed into a ravine.

 

“Then what is your name? Come on, we don't have all night to do this.” Nick pressured in an unusually aggressive manner for him. Behind him on the other side of the curtain, the jaguar sobbed loudly a few more times and went back to crying into a pillow, muffling her emissions.

 

“I...I don't remember.” Aaron said softly.

 

”You don't remember your name? Seriously?” Nick scoffed.

 

Aaron was awake now, the confusion reaching a peak in him that tapped into a last reserve of panic energy.

 

“I don't remember my name!” He yelled. His pupils constricted, bringing the world into better focus. Beside him he could now make out what looked like a large sheep in a lab jacket. He was flanked by a red fox in a dark colored uniform of some sort. Standing on the chair beside him the third voice seemed to belong to a gray rabbit, with big bold eyes, also dressed in a dark blue uniform and knee pads where the hind-leg joint would have been. All three were standing on their back legs and looked uncannily humanoid. He could feel panic forcing its way up, crawling up his spine and washing over his mind. He struggled against the handcuff and looked at his exposed arm. His vision was still blurry, but the arm looked very wrong. Much more bulk and muscle stood out than he expected, and even with his eyes being bad, he could see something was wrong with his skin. It was the wrong color for skin, golden-brown and the blur made it look fuzzy.

 

“What did you do to my body?!” He demanded, sitting up part way, straining against the handcuff securing him to the bed. Lambert answered without really looking up from his chart. “Well, we didn't really do anything. You broke your left radius minorly in your fall and we splinted that, but the head scan came back fine. Just a bloody nose and some facial abrasions. You're otherwise a healthy lion.”

 

“Lion? No, I'm not a lion I'm a...” _What am I?_ _What are they? WHERE am I? “_ What did you do to my body!” he screamed at Dr. Lambert. In a flash, Judy jumped from the chair and landed on the lions chest knocking him back flat.

 

“You need to cool it off pal, right now!” She ordered in her best command voice.

 

“Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me!” He begged, jerking his head sideways. In the next bed, the jaguar screamed then started crying even louder.

 

Judy held a paw out. “Relax, nobody is going to hurt you. It's okay.” She looked at her other paw and realized at that point that she was pointing her stun gun right at the lions face. She holstered it slowly and climbed off the bed. “It's okay. I'm here to help.” She soothed.

 

“I'm going to get you something to help you sleep. Maybe then we can talk when you are feeling calmer.” Dr. Lambert explained in a cool, even tone. He stepped out of the room, followed by the officers.

 

“Well, I suppose I'll take what I can get.” He grunted “I've got a whole department full of these folks that fell from the portals and every hospital in Zootopia is the same right now. EMS is having to look at transferring patients out as far as the outer regions. And that's just the survivors. The morgue is over run with ones that fell onto things. The patients can't remember anything about themselves but are convinced their bodies are wrong somehow. Most of them are not even talking, or if they do it's just babbling. At least yours can yell at me in complete sentences.

 

Dr. Lambert walked on by the nurses station, and leaned on the desk. “Sil, would you give the patient in room 51 twenty milligrams of Haldane please?” A slender built deer poked her head around the corner. “Yep.” She nodded and disappeared into the medication room. She came back a moment later with a syringe filled with a colorless mid-grade animal tranquilizer topped with a sturdy looking needle and proceeded to the curtained treatment room they had just come out of. Judy and Nick waited outside, half expecting more commotion.

 

“Quick pinch here.” They heard the nurse say, but nothing else. She reappeared a moment later and grinned at Nick as she walked by.

 

In the bed, Aaron lay still restrained. He registered the stab of the needle but the feeling was lost in the background of every other sensation his body registered. The crying next door had not stopped, and he turned his head to peek through a space between the curtain and the wall behind him, fighting sleep.

 

“Hey. Hey you, bed next to me.” His voice sounded far away from him now. “It's going to be okay, we'll be fine.” He spoke slowly to the jaguar. The drugs won the battle against his consciousness and he fell into a deep, dark sleep.

 


	4. Blackout Days

**West Paces Medical Center, Inpatient Psychiatric Department**

**3 Days Later**

 

Aaron sat in a hard backed plastic chair, dressed in a hospital gown. His right arm was folded behind his back and handcuffed to his bad one. Across from him, a horse in a plaid, button-up, short sleeved shirt and glasses sat with a clipboard and pen, flanked by Judy and Nick. “Alright, let's try going over this one more time: Say your name.” He instructed.

 

“Aaron Ledbetter.” He replied, flatly. The air felt too hot in the room, and his face twitched involuntarily every time the air current shifted directions.

 

“Good. Tell me where you are right now.”

 

“Hospital. Psych unit.”

 

“What city are we in?”

 

Aaron said nothing for a long time. It was unclear if he was thinking or refusing to speak. “Zootopia.” he answered tonelessly, almost choking on the word.

 

“You're doing very well Aaron.” the horse wrote some fast notes on the clipboard. Judy held her pen out in front of her, the built-in audio recorder facing Aaron. Nick, on the other hand was looking down at the floor, and massaging his temples with his thumbs. They had been here for hours.

 

“Now, what kind of mammal are you?” the horse, one of the units psychologists asked in a low, calm voice. He'd been assigned a number of the portal arivees that had been admitted to the unit, and was not making good progress in helping the police make sense of the events of the last few days.

 

Aaron shook his head, mane falling in his eyes. “No.”

 

“We want to hear you say it. You're doing very well so far.” Judy said, trying her best to make her voice encouraging.

 

“Can you undo my arms? This is hurting me.” Chains scraped against plastic”

 

“Tell you what: You say what kind of animal you are for me and the doctor, and I'll see about letting you out of those.” Judy bargained with Aaron, voice perky.

 

“No. Can't do it. Admitting it just feeds the delusions. Have to stay focused, try to concentrate on reality.” Aaron's speech was clear, but strained and choppy.

 

Nick rose from his chair, knocking it over backwards, flinging his arms out in exasperation.

 

“Cheese and crackers, would you just answer the question so we can all move on with our lives?!” He yelled at Aaron, who recoiled in his seat. The psychologist looked from Judy to Nick, eyes narrowed.

 

“Let's cancel the interview for now. We'll try again in a few days.”

 

* * *

 

 

**7 Days Later**

 

Dr. Haygood sat with his clipboard of notes in a chair opposite Aaron. A camera on a tripod was positioned to the side of them, a red LED indicating it was recording. The room was otherwise bereft of any furnishings besides the two chairs bolted to the floor to prevent anything from being used as a weapon. Haygood had worked with psychiatric crisis patients for most of his professional career, but the refugees, as everyone had begun to refer to them as were a new class of issue. Being near one that was a large predator gave him a bit of concern.

 

“Tell me about how you're feeling today Aaron.” he instructed,

 

“Still feel very overwhelmed.” Aaron said, his tone more animated and calmer than he had been since his admission.

 

“Can you tell me more about that?”

 

“I mean this.” Aaron tapped his wide, black nosepad. “My sense of smell is so much more sensitive. It's making me feel sick.”

 

“I see. Sensory overload can be disorienting. Were you not able to smell things before?” Haygood began writing. The refugees were all unanimously referring to themselves as being something called 'humans', a previously unheard of species of mammal that as far as any scientific records showed had never existed on the planet. Considerable time was being spent on trying to understand their anatomy and physiology, but it was hard with no physical models to go off and the victims who claimed this all appearing to be otherwise normal animals. Not to mention that many of the subjects still were not mentally composed enough to interview. Aaron had proven to be further ahead of the curve than many other patients.

 

“We could, yes, but not to this level. I can pick out details in smell that I never imagined. It's overpowering.” He explained.

 

Outside the room, Madge, a honey badger who worked as a medical researcher for the university watched in through a large window next to Nick and Judy.

 

“So, all of them have the same story?” Judy inquired, standing on a chair so she could watch the scene.

 

“Yes, it's odd. Even ones who haven't been exposed to the main control group; so we know they aren't sharing a common cover story.” She said. Madge had narrowly avoided being convicted along with Mayor Lionheart following the Bellweather Incident, and even some time later was still working to rebuild her professional stature.

 

“Okay, so then it's like some sort of mass hallucination.” Nick offered.

 

“That doesn't actually happen in real life.” Madge explained, silently cursing the entertainment industry for ever coming up with the trope.

 

“Well, what if they were like, drugged with the same thing at the same time?” Nick asked. He was getting lost in his own little internal mystery movie.

 

“Aside from the fact that would be almost impossible to pull off,” Madge responded “Psychoactive drugs would not produce the same, uniform hallucinations across the board. Each of them would have different delusions. Even then, you are forgetting one important fact.”

 

“What's that?”

 

“We all saw them come through the portals. You even said that Mr. Ledbetter here fell practically at your feet.”

 

“Okay, well...there's _that”_ Nick waved a paw, disappointed that his theory had been ruined.

 

Madge watched the subject talk to the doctor. So far, so good. He had been answering questions and was coming along faster in mentally recovering than several other of his cohort had. She needed this right now. The holding of the refugees here stank of the Bellweather Incident. In her opinion, they were not so much truly mentally ill, but rather traumatized and were being contained more because the city couldn't figure out what to do with them yet. None of this explained what had really occurred though. The portals had completely stopped late that first night and so far never appeared.

 

As the subjects recovered their memories, she hoped the whole incident could be what she needed to put her back in her place as a respected scientist.

 

Back in the room, Dr. Haygood flipped pages on his notes.

 

“Now, I know this has been a difficult thing for you to come to terms with, but say what you are for me.” He watched Aaron expectantly with his deep brown eyes.

 

Aaron frowned and sighed audibly. “I'm a lion. Geez, you really like hearing me say that don't you?” He griped.

 

“Knowing your species type is a major piece of coming to grips with reality. It's for your own good.”

 


	5. Fools In The Spiral

**5 Days Later**

 

Aaron woke up to the sound of his door opening. Disoriented, he looked around the room with its bare bed that was fixed to the floor. His gown had bunched up around his waist while he slept and he startled when he looked at his body. There was a moment of panic whenever he awoke and saw himself, mentally expecting to see his old body back and that the whole thing had just been a dream. It never was though.

 

“Sorry to scare you. Come on, time for group therapy.” A buffalo was standing in the doorway, filling it with his figure. He was wearing a white uniform, and had a electrostatic baton and muzzle strapped to his belt. Aaron stood up wordlessly and smoothed his gown around his torso, keeping his hands visible to the orderly. He'd seen several other patients in steel frame muzzles while he was there and had no desire to see what would happen if he alarmed the staff.

 

They walked down the hallway. Aaron had spent a good amount of time sleeping over the past two weeks. He liked napping. When he slept, he dreamed, and dreaming brought back memories of before. He could remember who he was, his work and details about his past life now. It was like a slow download of information over a bad connection, but the doctors kept telling him it was progress even if he wasn't sure how much of it they believed.

 

When they arrived at the group therapy room, the session had already started. Chairs were arranged in a circle with one open, next to Shaena, the crying black jaguar that had been in the bed next to him in the emergency department. A raccoon in glasses and a pair of scrubs was moderating the meeting. Two video cameras recorded the meeting room this time. Arron sat and listened.

 

“Now, I'd like everyone to talk about how they are feeling right now. Why don't you start Randall?” the moderator pointed to a hoofed mammal with a massive rack of horns and short brown coat that looked like a hybrid between a moose and a deer. Aaron had identified him as a fallow deer some days ago, proud of himself for figuring it out.

 

“Yeah, okay.” Randall started. “You know what? I'm pissed!” He growled. He had a dark, gravely voice that seemed out of place for his appearance. Aaron was not surprised. Randall Stone, as he had introduced himself was commonly the angry one, and frequently was 'corrected' by the orderlies. This was sure to be an action packed meeting again.

 

“Tell me about what's making you angry.” The raccoon consoled soothingly.

 

“What's making me angry?” Randall spat, rhetorically. “What's making me angry?! Look at me! I was rich and happy back home. Now I've got a set of clown-ass looking horns growing out of my head.” He knocked on the flat plate of antlers that were growing from either side of his forehead.

 

“I'm sure everyone would agree you have a very impressive rack.” The raccoon looked over the top of his glasses, pointing with his pen. Across from him, a spotted hyena chuckled briefly. The moderator gave her a confused look, but said nothing and she fell silent.

 

“What about you Shaena?” The attention turned to the melanistic jaguar who was leaning forward tensely in her chair, arms braced between her legs.

 

“Rich and happy, huh? Who cares about that? I had kids Randy!” She exploded. “I had two young children who are missing their mother now! My poor babies.” She broke down sobbing again, sinking down in her chair. Nobody said anything, and an awkward silence fell over the room. Aaron put a paw on her shoulder and leaned in.

 

“It'll be okay.” We don't know what happened to our bodies back on Earth. Maybe we still exsist or something.” He spoke softly in her ear. Faint rings with spotted centers were visible in her coat, almost invisibly darker black against the rest of the fur. She hugged to his shoulder, crying intensely.

 

“No. We're gone. We're all gone now. I just know it.” She heaved.

 

“Okay, lets go to the next one.” The dressed out Procyon said, after giving Aaron a moment to calm Shaena. He pointed with his pen to an ibex with a broken horn. He sat in his chair shaking and rocking back and forth.

 

“No, it's not real, not real. It's the government, man. They did this to us. All their experiments. They did this.” He stammered, getting up from his chair and pacing.

 

“Farr?” Aaron looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. Farr rattled his way over to Aaron's chair. His right horn had broken off and the left one was chipped badly.

 

“No man. I was in the Army I saw what they did to those people. It was the experiments. Trying to make super soldiers!” Farr was really going now, spittle escaping from the back corner of his mouth where he was missing a tooth. Aaron stood up briskly, his nose about an inch from the ibex.

 

“You were a soldier?” He asked. Farr nodded. “Farr, Stephen. Foxtrot-Alpha-Romeo, one-two-one-niner.” He gibbered back, his ID number the clearest thing he'd said all day.

 

“Good, then stand down!” Aaron bellowed. Farr recoiled, but took a few shaky steps back. “Sit down and cool it brother.” At the door, the bison orderly had unholstered his stun baton and muzzle and advanced on Aaron. The moderator waved him back subtly. Farr took a few more unsteady steps back but sat in his chair. “Yes sir.” he said softly.

 

The raccoon looked at Aaron who had returned to his seat. “Well, why don't you go next.”

 

Aaron shook his head. “Not now. I don't have anything to share.”

 

“Come on now. Nobody is here to judge you.” Aaron remained silent for a moment longer, then stood back up with a growl.

 

“I was happy!” He bellowed. “I didn't have kids, or some fat paycheck but I was happy, dammit! I did my time with the Army too. I got deployed to Iraq...twice!” he looked directly at Randall. “I was the unit doc. I saw shit that nobody should ever have to see. I had to unwrap a guy's intestines from around a barbed wire fence after his vehicle hit an IED! But I got out! I got out and I went back to college. Got my nursing degree, and then my masters. I got my cushy government job. It wasn't fancy but I was happy with it!” He stopped pacing and sat back down so hard the chair thumped.

 

“You were an Army medic?” Randall asked. “And now you end up getting PTSD from all this, huh? What a world.”

* * *

 

 

**Four Days Later**

 

Aaron sat in the dining hall with all the other patients. Shaena was next to him, a plate with an off-white square of something that looked slightly meaty in front of them both.

 

“What is this stuff?” He asked, sniffing it and crinkling his nose.

 

“I think it's fish...maybe.” Shaena said, analyzing it. As they studied their food, Randall came and sat opposite them, joined by a doe of the same species as him. They both had plates of leafy green vegetables and a scoop of cooked grain.

 

“Randall. Mary.” Aaron regarded them both with a nod. Randall nodded back and Mary smiled thinly.

 

“Whatcha got there Shaena?” She asked, pointing at the plate.

 

“Please. Just call me Shay. I hate that name. We've got no clue what it is, and I'm afraid to try it.” She responded. “Yours looks a lot better.”

 

“Want to share?” She offered, pushing her plate forward. “I'm not that hungry.”

 

Aaron looked confused. “I'm not even sure what we are supposed to eat. Are we strict carnivores? Omnivores? Non-Obligate Carnivores?” He asked of the group.

 

“I don't know what all that means. Lets just put it together and split it all.” Randall shrugged, grinding down a gob of long, thin grains between his teeth. “I think this stuff is rice”

 

The four of them spent lunch picking at each others plates, the fishy squares mostly untouched. A grizzly orderly took notice of them and strode quickly over.

 

“Hey!” He shook his head at Aaron. “Don't eat that stuff. “You'll make yourself sick!” he ordered.

 

“How?” Aaron asked, his mouth full of salad. “It's just greens.”

 

Three hours later, stuck on the toilet, Aaron began to regret his decision.

 

* * *

 

**One Day Later**

 

“You've got some visitors here to see you.” the silver fox said to him from the doorway. Aaron was sitting alone in his room, bored to death. He turned around and looked behind him. Judy and Nick stood behind the nurse, still in uniform. Aaron smiled, relieved and Judy waved her right paw happily.

 

“Here for business or personnel reasons officers?” He said with a grin. The two of them had come by almost every evening after their shift to visit, initially at Judy's instance out of feeling sorry for Aaron, but over the days Nick had come to respect the company of the lion.

 

“Some fox kit down at the park said a big bad lion stole his lollipop. Came to see if you knew anything about that.” Nick smirked.

 

“Yeah, I do and it was delicious.” Arron grinned back devilishly. Judy laughed.

 

“Wanna go for a walk?” She asked.

 

“Depends. Do I need to be on a leash?” Arron asked.

 

“A what?” said Judy.

 

“Nevermind. Let's go.”

 

The three of them walked to the day room, and looked out the large reinforced acrylic window. Aaron pulled a chair away from the table so Judy could get high enough to see clearly out of it. Twilight was falling over the city and the sky was blood red and bright orange.

 

“It's beautiful, isn't it? Judy sighed. She loved the view from high up over Zootopia. It made her remember why she came to the city.

 

“Yeah,” agreed Aaron. “Reminds me of...” He paused. S _andiego/losangeles/welcometothehotelcalifornia._ Confusing thoughts obstructed his thinking, names of places he couldn't remember. “...somewhere. I can't think of it.”

 

“It'll come back to you.” She reassured him.

 

“Maybe. There's still the possibility that I'm just hallucinating this whole thing.” He said, looking out at the light reflecting off the buildings of Savanna Central.

 

“So, they haven't managed to cure you of that here? Boy, what a rip-off.” Nick quipped. Aaron looked down at Nick seriously then sighed.

 

“There was this hypothesis where I'm from called 'Brain in a Jar” theory. It said that the only thing you can prove is your own thoughts. Anything else could just be an elaborate simulation and you would never know the difference.” He explained, still looking out the window. Judy adopted a look like her brain was going to melt thinking about the implications of his statement. Nick on the other hand was unfazed.

 

“Great. Well, I want to change my program. Get me an island and a few nice vixens and a lot of money.”

 

Arron looked over to Nick. “You're a real smart-assed critter, Officer Wilde. I like you.” He broke into a smile. It was refreshing to have something to laugh about again.

 

“Do you really believe that? That this isn't real?” Judy asked from up on there chair she stood on. Aaron shrugged his shoulders.

 

“I'm not sure what I believe. All I know is that I wake up each morning with a little more of my memory back and it just makes me wish I could find out I was home.”

 

“This is Zootopia, though. Where anyone can be anything.” Judy encouraged, reciting the city's political motto.

 

“Yeah, even a potentially insane inter-dimensional alien.” Nick laughed, poking Aaron, who didn't respond.

 

“Besides, glass half full: You''re alive, mostly uninjured and the staff says how well you're doing.” Judy told Arron. He continued to look out the window, seeming lost in thought.

 

“I'm alive.” He said distantly. “All the things that have happened to me in my years and I live... I live, and live and live...”

 

* * *

 

**Nine Days Later**

 

Group therapy was back in session and discussion was lively, but calmer now for the most part. Farr had never really gotten away from his fevered insistence that their condition was the result of some secret government experiment. Randall, with Mary's coaching had cooled himself to a low simmer and found himself having less problems with the staff.

 

“I'm just saying that it's not possible for us to really live here. The whole culture is so different and I'm too old and stubborn to be relearning how to live my life.” Randall verbalized.

 

“Sounds like a personal problem Randy, dear” Shay rebutted.

 

“Yeah, I'll add it to the list.” He grumbled

 

Aaron stood up, getting the attention of the others. “That's the thing though. It's not _that different_. We've all observed their behaviors, as much as they've watched ours.” He looked at the raccoon moderator, who motioned for him to continue. Their culture is similar to what ours was at the time of our...at the time of the event.”

 

“If we want to be able to carve out a niche for ourselves here,” he continued, “we need to be able to integrate ourselves with society. To blend in and meet cultural expectations. To make ourselves disappear into the background.”

 

Randall leaned forward, pointing at Aaron with the tip of the flexible, tri-split hoof that served as his fingers now. “What if I don't want to blend in? What if I want to be myself? What's wrong with that?” He fired off his questions angrily.

 

“There is much to be said for maintaining ones self-identity.” the moderator offered.

 

“Right, sure.” Aaron thew his paws up. “I'm sure just what society here wants is a bunch of completely eccentric, crazed sounding yahoos roaming around.

 

“Well, technically you are all here because of...”

 

“Forget it.” Aaron cut off the raccoon. “I'm just saying, do what you want, but I'm not planning on spending the rest of my life in here, and if that means having to make changes to who I am than so be it.”

 

Outside the meeting room, Judy leaned up against a wall, one ear against the wall so she could listening in subtly and grinned. She'd requested an assignment for the day as the police liaison at the hospital so she could hang out on the upper floor and keep an eye on Aaron and the others. He was going to be an interesting one. Sometimes life needed interesting bits.

 


	6. Needs Before Wants

**Seven Days Later, Thirty-Six Days Since Admission**

Aaron stood in the hallway by the nurse's station, his arms crossed at his chest. Judy and Nick stood across from him and Dr. Haygood attended off to Aaron's right, a stack of papers in one hoof-like hand.

"How's it goin' today fuzzy?" Nick nodded up at the lion.

"Fine," Arron replied tersely. He had a slight frown on his face that had not changed since the officers had arrived late in the afternoon.

"Cool, cool. Arm doing better?" Nick asked, forcing conversation.

"It's okay. The doctor thinks they can remove the splint in another few weeks." He held his left arm up in front of his face. The casting had been replaced with a black semi-rigid strap on-splint that covered from the wrist to half way up his forearm. His hospital gown waved slightly in the air current from the air conditioner.

"Okay, that's good. So what's bothering you then?" Judy asked, looking up and trying to read the expression on Aaron's face.

"They're discharging me." He answered, not looking happy about the news.

"Wow! That's great!" Judy ran up and hugged Aaron's leg. He was much taller than her, and not counting her ears only came up to his waist.

"Is it?" He said, not returning the gesture of friendly affection. "I've got nowhere to go. My home was...hell I don't even know where. I've got no home, no money, and I don't even own a shirt now. What am I supposed to do with myself?"

Judy stepped back and rubbed her jaw with a paw, thinking. He was right. She felt suddenly depressed, imagining him sleeping under a bridge, trying to stay warm on a rainy night, wrapped in nothing but rags. Suddenly, she had an idea, snapping her fingers and smiling widely, her eyes bright again.

"Hey, I know! You could come back with us." She said.

"'Us?'" Aaron inquired.

Judy pointed at Nick. "Yeah, we've got an apartment together. It's plenty big enough for one more." She assured him. Nick looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Can I speak to you for a moment Judy...in private?" Nick lead her away by a few feet and spoke to her in what could best be described as a loud whisper. Aaron turned an ear, concentrating on the effort of the movement. His hearing was so much better than before, but all the new muscle control was still a struggle.

"Are you sure about that? Really sure? He's a large predator, and you want to put him in the flat with us?" He asked.

"We can't just leave him on his own. Look at him. He's all alone here. We're probably the closest thing he's got to friends on the outside. Besides, you are large predator too, or did you forget that?"

"Uh, excuse me. I am a _medium_ sized predator. You're not snack sized to me. Besides, I need you for half the rent." Nick faked indignation.

"We are not making the world a better place if we just ditch him. You never know what could happen out there." She insisted, annoyed that Nick was resisting the idea so much. It sounded great in her head. "Besides, you even said yourself that he seemed like a fun guy."

"No, I said he smells like a fungi. Fine though, it's half your place anyway. I just don't want to find out your remains are buried under a shallow river in the park." Nick crossed his arms. He could tell he wasn't going to win the argument against Judy's dogged sense of saving the world one good deed at a time.

"I promise to behave myself," Aaron called out. Judy and Nick turned their heads to look at him, realizing they had been heard.

"Besides, I like my food a lot less...sentient. Even before. I wouldn't eat someone who...just no." He gave a disgusted grimace.

"Great! Then it's settled. You can come back to our place till you get back on your feet. Maybe find a job or something."

"Yeah, portal invaders for hire. I'm sure it'll go great." Nick chuckled and then stopped to think. "Hmm, that gives me an idea for..."

"No!" Snapped Judy.

"Fine." Nick pouted. "Now how do we smuggle him home?"

* * *

**Twenty Minutes Later**

The elevated train was crowded with rush hour travelers and the three animals were crammed into a small space beside a door. Aaron's tail swung back and forth through the hospital gown, the only clothing he'd had to leave with, exposing his bare backside, and he kept his rear to the train wall.

"Laundry day?" asked a black and white pig, getting on at a stop.

"Washer is in the shop." Aaron shrugged, and Judy just buried her face in her paws.

One delayed train and a dozen stops later, the trio disembarked. It was dark now, and they walked down a sidewalk for the last leg of the evening trip home in relative silence until they arrived at a tall, multi-story apartment complex. Judy unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door, holding it for Aaron.

He stood on the threshold, looking around. It was small but tastefully furnished. A TV sat on the front wall parallel to the door, with a couch across from it. A small kitchen came off the back wall and a short hallway led to a single bedroom and a small room was placed down the hall from it, with a closet and small desk with a computer.

"Well, here we are." She said cheerily, turning on a light. "Welcome home." She smiled and Nick winced slightly. Aaron just looked around the room, analyzing the setting.

"It's nice." He eventually agreed.

"Yeah, it is. So, can I get you anything?" Judy offered.

Aaron shook his head, analyzing the apartment. He turned and his tail swung out the side involuntarily, slapping Judy with the tip.

"Ahh, sorry about that!" Aaron apologized quickly, grabbing his tail and holding it. The tip continued to jerk back and forth. "Still haven't figured out how to control that thing."

"It's okay," Judy reassured him.

"Look, I'm just tired. I think I'll just get some sleep." He said, yawning.

"Where should we put you I wonder?" Judy thought out loud.

Aaron motioned to the couch. "This is fine. I can make myself fit." He said, trying to be unobtrusive.

Nick shook his head. "No. Nope. I want you somewhere I can keep an eye on you. I've got a better idea." Aaron watched the fox walk down the hall, thinking he was going to suggest out in the hall. Instead, Nick rummaged through the closet in the room with the computer and dragged out a metal and canvas cot. He dumped it on the floor of the bedroom at the foot of the two single sized beds that were set parallel to each other.

"There. Use that." He ordered. Aaron looked at the cot and considered his options which were none at the moment.

"Yeah, okay." He acquiesced as Nick went to the kitchen.

"He's normally not like this." Judy watched Nick go. "I mean, he's really nice. He's just frightened. This has been a lot for us all."

Aaron crouched down, getting more on Judy's level. "I think we're all scared. I promise to behave myself. Really, I'm not a bad perso...lion. It's just unusual circumstances for everyone. I used to do a lot of good work. I tried to help others."

Judy grabbed Aaron's paw. It was huge compared to hers. "I know you are. I wouldn't have suggested this if I thought you weren't nice. We both really do feel bad for what happened to you. You sounded like you did a lot of good work in the past."

Aaron chuckled and stood up. "Yeah, I'll have to tell you all about some of my adventures sometime." He walked off toward the bedroom and sat on the cot. It was just large enough to fit him, and he decided that it would be fine for the time.

In the kitchen, Nick sorted through the fridge, looking for a snack and listening to Aaron and Judy. She squeezed his eyes shut. He hated it when other animals made him feel like an asshole.

About an hour later, Aaron lay on his cot, his good arm covering his eyes, still awake. The lights were still on in the room, Judy and Nick doing their own nightly routine. He heard Judy at some point hop into her own bed, but Aaron did not move or speak. Nick padded into the room some time later, and Aaron took a moment to appreciate how well he could pick out sounds and tell the two apart just by footstep noise. Nick's steps stopped near him and didn't resume.

"You're still awake," Nick said, not a question but more of an observation.

"Mm-hmm," Aaron replied, not moving his arm from his face.

"Not tired? I thought you'd had a long day."

"Just have a lot to think about. New world, new place." He said, slowly. "New roommates." He added.

"I'm going to bed. We both have work in the morning."

"Understood. Don't let me keep you up." Aaron said, lowering his elbow to look at Nick through one eye. He expected Nick to turn on him and leave, but he just stood there a moment longer, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding looking Aaron in the face.

"Look, um..." He hesitated. "I'm..."

Aaron uncovered both eyes and boosted himself up, not sure where Nick was going with his statement.

"Never mind." He said, turning away. Aaron held up his first two fingers and made a casual saluting gesture at Nicks bushy tail. A moment later Judy clicked out the light, but Aaron still lay awake for several hours before he fell asleep.


	7. Clear And Wide Awake

**The Next Day**

Aaron awoke to someone poking his arm. He opened his eyes and blinked, confused about where he was for a while. Then he remembered the evens of the previous day. On one hand, he was relieved to not be in the hospital anymore, but part of him was still disappointed to not wake up back in his own home.

"What's up? I'm awake." He rolled off the cot and onto the floor landing on his bad arm with a grunt and pushing himself up.

"I was just letting you know we're getting up for work. You've got the place to yourself." Judy stood beside him, watching the lion struggle to his feet. "Don't go anywhere." She cautioned him. She turned to the other occupied bed in the room, where Nick still was, sitting up, cover pulled up halfway over his bare chest. "Nick, we've gotta go. We're gonna be late."

Nick didn't move from the bed. "I'm gonna take a sick day. Keep an eye on the new guy. Tell 'em I've got fox flu." He feigned coughing twice.

"Fox flu? Is that a thing?"Aaron asked, trying not to think too much about how cross-species diseases could work in this world.

"As far as you know it is." Nick spat back, looking at him through narrowed eyes.

_Forget I asked._ Aaron thought.

"Yeah, alright. Whatever" Judy waved dismissively before walking out the bedroom door.

Several hours later, Nick and Aaron sat at the small table in the kitchen, a mug of coffee in front of them both. The smell of it hit Aaron like a brick to the face, and almost made his eyes water when he drank it. He couldn't tell if it was his enhanced sense of smell, or the fox just was terrible at making coffee. Neither of them spoke but occasionally looked at each other, otherwise dodging glances. Aaron watched Nick, who kept rubbing his neck like the previous night. He could tell he wanted to say something, and Aaron worried about what it would be.

"Grrrgh." Nick half growled/ half whined. "I hate doing this!" He put his head in his arms. A thousand possibilities of what he meant ran through Aaron's head. He hoped it wasn't going to be anything too damaging, but kept his mouth shut.

"I'm..." Nick sputtered. "I'm sorry. There, I said it! You happy?" Aaron almost jumped at the exclamation, his tail swinging wide and hitting the fridge beside him then moving in a lazy arc. He sat silent.

"No?" Nick continued. "You lions are always so...noble."

"What are you talking about?" Aaron asked, more about the second part of the statement than the first.

"I'm sorry I've been treating you like I did. I know you're not a bad guy. I know you got ripped from your homeland and landed on the street. I know you didn't ask for this. Judy is just so stupidly optimistic sometimes. She's just trying to do the right thing, but I'm scared. I don't know what to make of everything." He groaned, looking at Aaron with sharply green irises.

Aaron didn't say anything and took another sip of coffee. He was waiting to see if Nick had more to say, but he was quiet now and looking at Aaron expectantly. The coffee made his nostrils burn.

"Well, I appreciate the apology, but I can appreciate where you're coming from. I've never been so scared of anything in my life and I went into a war zone twice." Aaron had a momentary flashback to trying to drag a wounded soldier out, gunfire popping off all around him."I'm really not that bad. I know that's a biased assessment of my character, but I've spent a lot of time working to help others. I've seen stress do strange things to people back home, and you're handling it better than a lot of them did. At least you're letting me stay."

Nick pointed at him. "See? That's one of your problems. You keep referring to being 'back home.' You need to think of this as home now. All this." He waved around him with his arms. "You live here now."

Aaron followed the gesture. "So, you don't think whatever happened is going to just suck us all back up and send us back where we came from?"

"I hope not. Not sure the city can take another beating like that." He sipped his coffee. "I know you aren't bad. It was just so strange, watching you fall from that portal right in front of us. We didn't know what it was, and then you couldn't even talk to us or say who you were. Now were here drinking coffee and you're sleeping in our place. I'm trying to adjust. I'll try to be nicer." Nick took another mouthful of his drink and stuck his tongue out. "Guh. This stuff is terrible. How can you drink it?"

_Okay, not just me then._ Aaron realized. "I've had worse in the field. Try making it with muddy pond water."

"Does that make it better, or worse?" Nick asked confused, taking his cup to the sink and dumping it, half expecting it to dissolve the stainless steel basin. "You said you used to be some kind of fighter?"

"Yep. Sixty-Eight Whiskey, 3rd Infantry Division, 5th Brigade, 2nd Battalion, Company Charlie." Aaron said proudly."

Sixty-Eight Whiskey? What is that? A competitive drinking team?" Nick asked, leaning against the countertop.

Aaron laughed. "No, I was an Army Combat Medical Specialist. Think of a medical provider in a combat zone. Means I could manage patching people up while the enemy shoots back at you. Or as I liked to say 'I could kill you, then bring you back to life.'"

Nick stood for a moment, thinking. "Well, that could be helpful. You might be able to do something like that one day out here. SWAT has had a few injuries that were pretty bad in the past." He sniffed at the air. "Phew. We need to get you some clothes. That gown is starting to stink, and I've got a pretty good sense of smell."

Aaron sniffed at the gown. It had picked up an odor for sure. Wearing the same clothes for days at a time would do that. He held up a finger. "Ahh, but that brings about the Paradox of Pants. You've got to _own_ pants to go and _buy_ pants. I assume you all have laws about public nudity." Aaron thought back to the walk home. Everyone had been fully dressed out in public, strange as it was to see animals wearing clothes; with the exception of shoes, which did not seem to be popular or possibly existent. "Besides, I think I left my wallet in my other dimension."

"I think I know a way to make things up to you. I know a fennec fox. Old friend of mine, he's got...things. Might be able to hook you up. He owes me a favor anyway." Nick said, brightly, his attitude almost suddenly reversed.

"Okay, that's fine, but how are we going to get there? Yesterday attracted more attention to me than I want. I'm trying to blend in here."

"Oh, I've got an idea."

Half an hour later, Nick was dressed in his police uniform and Aaron was back in handcuffs and they walked down the busy mid-morning streets of Savanna Central. "This was your idea?" Snarled Aaron quietly.

"Hey, it's working. As far as they know I'm just escorting you to the station. Now keep quiet...uhh, prisoner." Nick answered as they walked. The shops gave way to alleys and run-down townhouses, as they ducked through side streets. Eventually, they arrived at a red wood sided unit, and Nick knocked on the door. Loud rap music emanated from within.

The music stopped, and from inside a harsh urban voice yelled, "Who's there?"

"Hey toot-toot. Open up, it's me! Nick yelled through the door. The entry opened a crack and at first, Aaron thought that there was nobody there, until he looked down. The smallest sand colored fox he'd ever seen with the biggest ears ever peeked through the door.

"Oh no? Not you. We are done, Nicky. You working for the fuzz now. We. Are. Done!" The fennec yelled to Nick though the door. Nick placed a paw on the doorway and pushed it open. The tiny animal stood in indignation in the doorway, eyes narrowed and his teeth exposed.

"Hey, you can't just bust in here like...Oh, what the flaming-" He looked up, craning his neck to see Aaron standing in the doorway. The lion crouched down, even still significantly higher than the small desert fox.

"Wow, look at you!" Aaron smiled. "You are tiny. That's cute as hell."

Finn growled surprisingly deep for his size. "I will chew your face off and use you for a wall trophy." He threatened. Aaron stood back up, surprised.

_Small and violent. Being that short must just put him closer to hell._ Aaron thought.

Nick stood between the two of them and hushed Finnick. "Look, he's cool. I need a favor. Aaron here fell out of one of those portals last month. I need to get him some belongings kinda quick. I figured you'd have some stuff in your 'collection'. Besides, you owe me a favor."

"I owe you a favor? I owe you? You break up our good hustle, vanish for months, and come back wearing a badge and now I owe you huh?

"Yeah, but you remember that...thing. With the skunk and the flowerpot and the padlocks?"

"I paid you back for that with the Pawpsicle scam."

"I paid you in cash for that, it doesn't count."

"You were dressing me up like a-"

"Okay, shhh!" Nick hushed Finn "Not so loud." Aaron just stood by, confused about what was going on.

"Look, can you just loan us some stuff to get him started?" Nick begged. "I can't have him walking around like this."

"Fine." Finnick crossed his arms and pouted. "But after this, we are even, you hear? Big guy, go get that box over there. Look through it and find some stuff that fits you then get out of my house."

Aaron walked over to the box and rummaged through it. It contained clothes that appeared to fit someone of his size. "Why do you have all this? It's like seven times your size." Aaron asked, tossing a shirt out onto the floor.

"You want some gear or not guy?" Finn reminded him. Aaron considered further statements carefully and rummaged through the box.

* * *

A short time later, Aaron and Nick left the building. Aaron was now dressed in a set of khaki cargo pants, a blue t-shirt, and a plaid long sleeve that he had rolled up over his splint. He looked like a 90's grunge rock band member. He'd also managed to come away from the deal with a cheap smartphone connected to a network that neither he or Nick had heard of and a garbage bag of assorted clothes and other items.

"So, who's this Lex guy?"Aaron asked as he and Nick waited for a crosstown bus.

"Dunno. Some network and computer guy. Finn thinks he can get you into the government database so you can have an ID card." Nick shrugged. The bus arrived, and the two of them got on. The driver was a camel in a classy looking, but dirty blue suit top. Aaron looked around at the business day commuters dressed smartly. Seeing the different mammals in suits, ties and dresses still struck him as uncanny, and he could see that adjusting was going to mean keeping his mind more open than a ballroom.

"Hey, that's two-fifty!" The driver pointed to Aaron. "You're good, Officer."

"He's with me." Nick called back, pulling Aaron by the arm.

As the bus departed, Aaron leaned toward Nick. "You're a cop. Aren't you supposed to be discouraging me from doing this sort of thing?"

Nick shushed him. "Believe it or not, this makes it easier for us to keep track of you if you're not totally living off the grid. I'm just going to look the other way on the legality of it. Just, don't tell Judy about this."

"She's probably going to ask questions."

"Let me deal with her, you just keep quiet."

Aaron made a zippering gesture across the front of his mouth and the bus rolled on.

On the other end of the uptown Central district, Aaron and Nick were greeted by Lex Lutra, an otter wearing a scarf in spite of the warm weather and a hipster style set of black glasses. "Yeah, I can do it, but umm...I think you'd better wait outside." He said, slyly pointing to Nick with a claw.

Inside alone Aaron followed Lex. His home was a maze of server racks, monitors, and network cables. The ceiling was lower and Aaron had to duck to make it through the maze.

"Sorry about the mess. Sit here." Lex indicated a small stool and began typing. "Now, how old are you?"

"I don't know," Aaron admitted. Lex turned around suddenly with a confused look.

"You don't know how old you are? What's your date of birth?"

"I'm not sure."

"Don't know that either? How do you not know that?" He asked, looking like Aaron was crazier than he really felt at the moment.

"It's a long story. Say I'm thirty. Is that a reasonable age? Just make something up for the date." It occurred to Aaron he wasn't aware how long a year was here, or how long the various animals lived. He wondered if their lifespans matched more of a human life or their counterpart animals that they evolved from. Lex just shrugged and turned back to his computer.

"Okay, smile for the camera."

Many hours later, as the sun was going down Nick and Aaron walked back to the apartment. Going from Lex's place and then to the DMV with a concocted story about having been mugged and his wallet stolen, Aaron had gotten a 'reprinted' ID card which showed him as living at Nick and Judy's address. The whole ordeal had taken all morning and most of the afternoon at the DMV.

"They're always that slow?" Aaron grumbled.

"They're sloths, what do you expect? You handled that a lot more patiently than I thought you would." Nick answered

Aaron made a dismissive half wave. "What can I say. Quiet restraint takes all the best of me. At least you were able to bump us up in the line."

They arrived at the apartment. "That cover story worked better than I thought it would." Aaron smiled. The DMV hadn't even questioned the fact of his 'missing' ID card and had reissued it, with as little haste as was possible while still actually moving. He opened the door. Judy was standing in the living room with her phone in her paw.

"There you are! Where did you go? I told you to stay here. I was about to call dispatch and have a search put out for you." She sounded like his mother when he had come home too late in the evening.

"It's okay. I had an escort." He reassured her, as Nick stepped out from behind him and waved sheepishly. Judy slapped her face into her paw so hard Aaron thought her nose would get flattened.

"You look...different?" She said hesitatingly after a moment.

Aaron tossed the garbage bag down on the floor. "I'll take it as a compliment. I think I look like I should be starting a garage band. Since you have your phone out, let me give you my number so you can reach me next time. "

"Your phone number...? Oh, cheese and crackers." She sighed and shook her head.


	8. Watch Your Six

**Two Weeks Later**

 

It was at the time of night where it was either very late at night or very early in the morning, depending on who you asked, when Judy and Nick returned home. They opened the door to the darkened apartment and came in. Judy shivered slightly, and Nick just looked somewhere between tired and over-stimulated. It had been a bad day at the station. A drug bust had gone bad, and there had been injuries. It wasn't their case, but they had arrived as backup, along with what felt like half the first precinct. The ambulances had been delayed due to heavy rush-hour traffic, as was becoming more and more common when needing medical transport. By the time the incident was resolved, the injured officers evacuated, and debriefings completed it had been after midnight.

Inside the darkened apartment, Aaron had fallen asleep propped up on the couch still in his clothes. A book lay open on his lap, and several more were laying about the coffee table that sat in front of the couch, where Aaron was now resting one foot. Nick tiptoed over to investigate the contents of his reading. It was obvious from the tags that he had gone to the local library. The books were some heavy duty reading: _Anatomy and Physiology-A Survey of the Mammal Body_ , _Clinical Lab Values_ , _Medical-Surgical Nursing for Large and Medium Sized Animals_. A notepad and pencil lay near one of the books, filled with medical notations. Nick noted that a rabbit had been carefully sketched on one page with anatomical diagramming drawn over it.

Nick turned to Judy and whispered. “He's studying us... He told me the other day he used to be some kind of warrior medic on their world.”

Judy continued to vibrate like the high E-string on a guitar. “Do you think he could have...” She cut off before she could finish the sentence.

“Maybe? I don't know.” Nick thought back to the crime scene. Nobody had died, but he didn't realize how much blood someone could lose and still remain conscious. “He could have helped. Probably.”

_'I used to do a lot of good work. I tried to help others.'_ Judy remembered a line of conversation with Aaron from the first night they had come home. She looked wearily to Nick. “We should talk to Capt. Tikeri.” She whispered, resolutely.

“Those guys with SWAT scare me. You go talk to them.” Nick insisted.

“You heard the chief. He's our problem now. We do it together.” Judy insisted. Their day had started badly with Chief Bogo calling them both to his office mid-morning. He'd found out that they had taken home 'one of those refugees.' Someone had come to the police station looking for Aaron that morning, and Clawhauser, after looking the name up in the database found Aaron's name and the address he'd had listed on his license, noting loudly and publicly that it was the same as Judy and Nick's. He'd also done so within earshot of the Chief. In the end, it had been agreed that while the Chief couldn't do anything about who the two associated with or decided to open their home to, he disproved of it on grounds of safety and unfamiliarity.

The visitor had left a note with Clawhauser to be given to Aaron and vanished again. Judy remembered it now and took it from her pocket, carefully placing it in Aaron's shirt. As she brushed against him, his eyes opened partway, his third eyelid extended and covering the cornea, giving him a ghoulish appearance. It was obvious he was still asleep.

“Molly? C'mere Molly, give me a hug.” He mumbled, dreaming. Suddenly he reached out with his arms, grabbing Judy around the torso and yanking her to him, holding her tightly against his muscular body. “Good girl...” He trailed off, and began snoring.

Judy looked alarmed by the sudden action, afraid of what he might do, asleep. ' _He might be dangerous.'_ She remembered Chief Bogo cautioning them both, a claim they had dismissed. She looked to Nick for help who was doing his best to laugh quietly. He took his phone out and snapped a quick photo in the dark of Judy struggling to free herself from Aaron in his sleep. With an annoyed look, she managed to squeeze out from his arms and frowned at Nick. “Thanks for the assist Officer Wilde.”

“Ahh, you should have seen your face. It was great.” Nick laughed.

“Laugh it up for now, sly. We talk to Tikeri tomorrow. Together.” She told Nick, and stalked off to bed.

* * *

**The Following Morning**

 

Aaron stood in the kitchen, fighting with breakfast; a sealed plastic bag containing what proposed to be protein bars. He couldn't tear the heat sealed seam. The fact he only had four digits down from his original five was not helping the fact. Nick watched the struggle with an amused expression.

“Just use your claws and tear it. No one is going to mind.” He advised

Aaron stretched his right hand, his claws extending partway then falling back into their sheathes as soon as he relaxed. “I haven't quite figured out how to use them yet.” He admitted. There were too many muscles to learn to use now. His tail was continuing to be a hazardous object around the apartment, although he had gotten better at controlling it. The other day he had sent a drinking glass shooting off the coffee table and against the wall. He'd spent most of the afternoon trying to clean up glass shard before Nick and Judy returned home. That said, he was learning to very much appreciate how fit he felt now. His reflexes were much faster, and he had strength that he hadn't enjoyed since his Army days. He'd be set if he could just control the new body parts he had gained.

Judy walked out of the bedroom in an oversize t-shirt, blinking and rubbing her eyes. She muttered something that sounded like “Hermgmrnin” to Nick and Aaron.

“Good morning to you too.” Aaron nodded at the small bunny. “Don't worry, I'm fluent in half-asleep language,” he responded to Nick's confused look. “I also speak drugged and drunk-ese pretty well.”

At the word “drugged” Judy snapped awake, her eyes springing wide. “Did you tell him?”

Nick shook his head. “No, I wasn't going to say anything.” Aaron looked to the two, waiting for an explanation.

“It's nothing, just a long night at the station. Had a situation.” Nick looked down at the kitchen floor, rubbing the back of his neck;something Aaron had come to recognize as a sign the fox had more to say, but wasn't.

“Does it have something to do with this piece of paper I found stuffed in my shirt pocket?” He held up the folded note from the station between two fingers.

“ _Come find us in Pawmont Park tomorrow at noon. -S”_ the note read in flowing handwriting.

“No.. I mean, yes but...” Judy stammered. Aaron pulled a chair out from the table and sat backwards on it.

“I'm listening.” He said, calmly.

* * *

 

“Well, that sounds...unfortunate.” Aaron spoke at the conclusion of the story of the previous day. Nick and Judy had taken turns telling him of the events of the day, including the drug bust and the visitor who had come searching for Aaron. “Are they going to be okay?” He asked.

“The last update from the hospital is 'yes' but they're going to be out for a while.” Judy answered sadly.

“I'm sorry you had to witness that. All things considered, I've seen and heard of worse. It sounds like a lot of the problem was the ability to get a quick medivac.”

“Yes, exactly.” Nick pointed at Aaron. “We had backup, but that wasn't what we needed. We needed help.” Aaron knew exactly what he meant. Sometimes throwing more force at a problem wasn't the solution.

“Why not have an ambulance stage with you for those kinds of cases?” Aaron asked, finally getting the bag of food he had been fidgeting with open. He reached in and grabbed a bar, chewing idly on it.

“They aren't really equipped for this sort of thing, and so far their chief hasn't been ready to send them into high-risk warrant situations and put them in danger.” Judy explained, watching Aaron with a serious but subdued expression.

Aaron chewed. “Okay, so what you need is a tactical medic in that case. Someone that works with the force and is trained for treatment in dangerous situations like that.” He pointed to Judy with the breakfast bar, talking with his mouth full. Distracted, he failed to notice the look Judy exchanged with Nick.

Some time later, Aaron had changed clothes and was packing up to head for the park and find his visitor from the station.

“Oh hey!” Nick caught his attention as he walked to the door. “Before you leave...Who's Molly?”

Aaron stopped in his tracks like he'd been caught in a leg-trap. “Where did you hear that name?” He asked, turning around and looking upset.

Nick chuckled and showed Aaron the picture of the previous night with him crushing the soul out of Judy.

Aaron softened and looked embarrassed. “Uh...sorry about that.” He said to Judy who was sitting on the couch herself now with a cup of coffee, and chewing on a dense-looking alfalfa block.

“It's okay. You said the name in your sleep. Was wondering who it was. Someone important, I figured.”

“Molly was my dog.” Aaron said, hanging his head.

“Dog? You mean like the wolves?” Judy inquired, tilting her head in confusion. So, Aaron tried to explain. He tried to explain briefly about the history, how the wolves were domesticated by his kind, how they had bonded over millennia, and how they had changed physically and mentally. How it wasn't someone you could hold a conversation with like in the new world he was in, but it was still sometimes just as important to have someone around that didn't need to talk to communicate. How it was important to have someone to come home to when you were all by yourself in the world; but it was hard to explain just what the significance of having a pet was in a world where they didn't exist, and all the other animals had evolved leaving the wolves to wear business suits and ride the bus to work on a busy morning.

“You had a friend” Judy said at the end in realization.

“I had more than a friend. I had something I can never replace. If I'd had one thing I could have saved from back home, it would have been her.”

“I promise, we're really nice.” Judy assured him, sweetly. Aaron looked at her, gave a half smile and then his face returned to the hardened mask that he wore as an expression most of the time.

“Yeah, but it's never going to be the same for me. I wonder if anyone took care of her after I disappeared.” He shook his head in sadness and mourning. “I should go. I have someone waiting for me.” He picked the note from his pocket, read it again and put it away.

“You want us to come with you? Just in case?” Nick offered.

“No. If it's who I think it is, I need to do this alone.” With that, Aaron walked out closing the door behind him.

Alone in the apartment, Judy turned to Nick. “Let's go talk to the captain.”

* * *

**Pawmont Park, One Hour Later**

 

Aaron looked around the park. It was nice and open, the day beautiful. A pathway snaked around the perimeter, crossing under itself at one point with a stone arch footbridge. Near the bridge, a gazebo had been built. Its wood was dulled, weathered by the sun and rain. An open field sat as a backdrop to the scene. Looking around, Aaron didn't see anyone he recognized. “ _Not that I know anyone out here.”_ He thought, and suddenly felt more alone than ever. A large gray wolf with a black saddle pattern on his back sat on a park bench near the gazebo. He was dressed in worn out pants and a checked shirt that was missing two buttons. Aaron noticed that a lot of the males he'd seen were wearing ties, which seemed to be popular even for casual wear. Even Nick had a signature striped tie that he always seemed to wear on his days off. Aaron also noticed that like himself, the wolf wasn't wearing a tie. The wolf noticed him staring, and shot him a hostile look, baring his teeth. Startled, Aaron stepped backwards, and right into someone behind him. He turned around to apologize and saw a black jaguar wearing a strap shoulder t-shirt, and form fitting jeans. Her eyes were deep green contrasting the shiny black fur. The face was instantly recognizable.

“Shay...” He said, lost in himself for a second. He hadn't seen her since he had been discharged from West Paces Medical Center, and while he'd promised to find her, he never knew if he'd be able to make good on that vow.

“Well, fancy running into you here.” She smirked. “You got our message?”

“I...my friends did. How did you know to look for me there?”

“We didn't really. I knew you left with those two cops, but didn't know where you were going. You never said. So, we decided to check with the police and see if they knew where you had gone. Wasn't expecting the officer at the desk to find you so quickly.” She explained. “Whole thing was Mary's idea, really.”

Aaron hugged Shay, resting his head on her shoulder. “I'm so glad to see you again. I wasn't sure if I'd find you after I got out.” He said. Shay stroked his mane tenderly.

“It's okay. We made it, and we're safe now. Come on, Randall and the others are waiting for us.”

Aaron and Shay walked a short distance away to the area under the stone arch of the footbridge on the path. Mary was there, wearing a slightly faded sundress and Randall stood next to her, hand on her hip. He was dressed in slacks and a short sleeved shirt with a tie that was too long for his body. As Aaron came up on them, Mary waved, and suddenly Randall swung a hoofed arm out, hitting Aaron in the stomach.

“Man, you gotta be more ready than that!” Randall laughed. “How you gonna survive in the jungle?”

Aaron straightened himself back up. “Yeah, good to see you too. I'll keep that in mind next time I'm trying to avoid getting eaten by a deer. When did you all get out?”

Mary gave Randall a dirty look for his antics. “A few days after you did. It sounded like there was some political pressure from their...I mean _our_ mayor to release the refugees. They practically emptied out the whole ward. Sent us off with a few bits of clothes donated from a secondhand store, and set us up in public housing.”

“So, I'm the only one relying on the kindness of strangers for a home?” Aaron asked, although in truth it had been a good experience.

“I got the impression that the city wants to 'integrate' us or something. There was a press conference with what I assume was the mayor. I wasn't really paying a lot of attention to it.” Mary admitted.

“See, I told you!” Aaron pointed at Randall. “This is going to be the way to make it for ourselves.”

“Oh, look at me, I told you so. I'm mister smart guy!” Sneered Randall. “Yeah, laugh it up fluffy.”

“You're just bitter cause I called it.” Laughed Aaron. “So, who else came with you?”

Randall sighed. “Farr is out here somewhere too.” He looked up and down the path. It was unclear if he was hoping to locate the the conspiracy-obsessed ibex, or to not find him.

“There he is.” Aaron pointed. Farr was standing further up the path from them, ranting in a highly animated manner to a raccoon female who was out with a pair of young. The mother kept looking left and right, frozen in front of Farr like she was waiting for someone to rescue her from the awkward conversation.

“...I'm telling you, it's all fake. The government's doing it to make us all think we're crazy, but I can see through it. All the fur? Obviously fake. They just want to reinforce the idea that we're different, then swoop in an impose marshal law. I know the truth though. You see I have...” Farr talked about a million words a minute, his single intact horn waving.

“Give me a moment, I'll deal with him.” Aaron stated, and walked off toward Farr. Reaching him, he popped an arm around Farr's neck and started leading him away from the startled family he was lecturing. “Sorry about my friend, lady. He's had a rough month.” He called over his shoulder. “Farr man. Good to see you again. Gonna need you to cool it down a bit. You're going to scare somebody and end up back in the hospital.”

Farr shook his head, and for a moment seemed to have a bit of clarity. He stooped and faced Aaron, looking him in the eyes. “I can't do it man. This can't be real. It's all gotta be some crazy experiment. Right?”

“Sorry, but it's real. We've just got to make adjustments.” He apologized.

“You're just in on the conspiracy. I remember, you worked for the government. You're one of their sheep.” Farr's moment was gone, and the glazed look came back to his eyes. Aaron sighed, a joke about lions and sheep making a fast pass through his head and let him go as he wandered off back toward the group. Both he and Farr rejoined a moment later. Aaron noticed the wolf that had given him a dirty look on his arrival was still sitting on the bench, watching them all like he didn't want to seem like he was watching.

“We're going to have to keep a better eye on him, or we're all going to be in trouble.” Shay said, picking at a tooth with one claw tip.

“I see you figured out how to use your claws.” Aaron said, standing beside Shay and watching her.

“Hmm, oh yeah! It's easy.” She took her finger from her mouth, embarrassed at being seen. “Just gotta relax your palm and flex that second knuckle. She took Aaron by his paw, and pressed at where the digits met the palm. He studied the motion and practiced at replicating it.

Randall stepped up to the font of the group. “Okay, when you two are done playing pawsie with each other, we did call you out here for a good reason. We may have a problem with a bunch of the rest of the refugees. He began to speak on the true reason for the meeting.

* * *

 

“They're just disappearing?” Aaron said at the conclusion of the other four talking. Randall had told him about the other refugees that had been released onto the streets in the past two weeks. Many of them had settled into the city just fine, but now word was circulating of a number of them having vanished, unable to be located by friends and neighbors. Rumors were beginning to come up that authorities were rounding up animals that were identified as being portal refugees and taking them away, a thought that made Aaron's mouth go dry.

“Yep. Nobody can find them. Remember Hanna?” Shay asked. Hanna was the spotted hyena that had been part of the group therapy sessions. She'd had a demented sense of humor, but was for the most part outgoing. “Got up one morning and her room was cleared out, she was gone. Nobody heard anything.”

“We still aren't sure if they are being abducted, or leaving on their own.”

“I don't think they'd do that to us. Didn't you say there was some effort to try and integrate us into society, whatever they meant by that?” Aaron asked Mary.

“That's what they're saying, sure. But do you really believe that? I mean, integrating is a pretty lose word. They could be integrating us as prisoners.” Randal asked playing as conspiracy's advocate.

Aaron thought to himself a bit. If the government was capturing the refugees, that might mean that the ZPD was in on it. That could either mean he'd be able to get Judy and Nick to help, or that they were setting an elaborate trap for him. A big part of his conscience said that there was no possible way they would do that to him. _You keep your head looking over your shoulder all the time. Never get too comfortable._ He remembered someone telling him this in infantry school, years and a world ago. He decided to keep his eyes open, but now wasn't the time to get paranoid. Perhaps Judy would be able to offer help. If she was anything, she struck him as incorruptible.

“I've got some contacts with the police. Maybe they can look more into this.” Aaron finally said, weighing his options.

Randall stiffened. “What do you mean, you 'have contacts'? You better be talking about some prescription eye-wear there.”

“I...might be sharing a apartment with two of them.” Aaron said hesitantly, almost posing the statement like a question. Randall shook his head, almost hitting Mary in the head with his antler rack.

“I'd ask you to clarify what you mean, but I'm sure I heard you right the first time. So, I'll ask 'why'?”

“What was I supposed to do?” Aaron asked defensively. “Nobody was offering me options, just a 'here's your papers, don't let the door hit you on the way out.' I was just supposed to walk off naked and homeless?”

“You weren't supposed to run off and live with the police!” Randall snapped.

“Well, I'll make sure to consult you for all future life life choices.”

“You do that. And for the love of...look, just watch out for the police okay? Until we get this thing with the missing figured out.”

“Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. Keep in touch alright?” Aaron said, and walked off. He noticed as he left that the gray and black wolf that had been watching them from the park bench was gone.

* * *

  


**ZPD Headquarters, SWAT Offices**

 

The tiger sat behind his desk, paws folded behind his head and legs crossed, a genial smile on his face.

“So, anyway Captain we were just thinking that possibly you might...” Nick stammered.

“Find the idea interesting?” Captain Evan Tekari looked down from his desk and stared at the fox. “I do. It's a good plan. I see a few problems with it, most of which I can probably work around. The first: He's trained, but if you believe the stories the portal refugees tell, he's been trained in what's effectively alien biology, not mammal medicine.”

“He's been reading at home. Studying. I think he's trying to train himself. You'd have to see the notes he keeps. It's pretty intense.” Judy came to the defense of Aaron quickly, never letting the critique hurt her unending hopefulness.

“Still, just because you say you were a nurse on on a different world doesn't mean licenses transfer from one dimension to another. He could be trained though. He sounds like he might know how to handle himself in a fight but he'd have to prove it. The second problem is we'd have to get the Chief to agree to the whole thing. Making a new position on the force is kinda of a big deal, and even if it's on my team I can't make that decision.”

“We could all talk to him. All three of us. That is, if you think this could work.” Nick was being deferential to the head of the SWAT team. They had always made him nervous. Most of their team were large, fierce predators and had the friendliness of a warthog with a toothache. The captain, however, was gentle and friendly in severe contrast to the kind of work he was faced with daily.

“He has to!” Judy thumped her foot on the ground. “Captain Tekari, we could have helped Officers Hathen and Powers if we'd been able to get them medical attention sooner. The chief has got to agree to this.

Evan held a paw up. “Calm yourself. That brings me to my third problem, which is what concerns me most. Will your uh...friend even agree to this? He sounds like he's had a rough few weeks.”

Without checking with Nick, Judy answered “Why don't you come by the apartment. Join us for dinner. You can talk to him yourself. He's pretty friendly.”

* * *

 

Aaron walked home from the park, stopping by the library on the way back to find another pair of books. _Concepts of Trauma Medicine Across the Spectrum- A Mammal Centered Approach_ , and _Introduction to Pharmacology_. It was dark as he left, and he jogged his way back to Judy and Nick's apartment building, thinking about what had been said in the park. He was certain they wouldn't have gone to all the trouble they had just to be setting him up for a trap. Could they though? Were they using him like a inside agent to find out more about where the others were hiding? Where would you even put that many prisoners? How many had disappeared? There were too many questions. He decided that he'd just have to evaluate the situation from their place, and talk to the Judy and Nick to see if they knew something, if not, maybe they could help him.

Aaron arrived back at the high-rise apartment, and took the stairs up at a rapid pace. It felt great to get some running in and it surprised him how much more energy and agility he felt that he'd had. _I could write a study on this._ He thought. _Cardiovascular conditioning via inter-dimensional body swapping_. He chuckled at his own joke, and came to the door of the apartment. He froze. Something was off.

For one, he could hear voices inside. Talking. One, two, three. He counted the voices to himself. One female, that was Judy, and two males. One was Nick obviously, but the other he didn't recognize. It was deeper than Aaron's but sounded about the same age. The other was that the door was unlocked. Judy and Nick never left their door unfastened. Aaron's mind snapped from the condition yellow it had been idling at since the park, to condition red.

_Be ready for anything._ He reminded himself. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

Inside, Judy and Nick sat on the couch next to each other. Judy was dressed down in a blue and white t-shirt and pink workout shorts, Nick had on one of the seemingly endless supply of green tropical patterned shirts and khaki slacks he owned. Aaron had begun to wonder if Nick owned a closet full of identical clothes, or simply wore the same shirt all the time.

Standing next to the couch was a large Bengal tiger, lean muscled and looking like he could take Aaron apart without so much as blinking. He was dressing in a set of black pants, with a heavily equipped police utility belt and a black knit short-sleeved shirt embroidered across the chest with “ _ZPD SWAT_ ” in big gold lettering.

Aaron froze. Randall had been right! He dropped the books from his right arm, and they hit the floor with a thump.

“Hey, welcome back!” Judy smiled, or saw she sneering? Aaron was having a hard time reading expressions. The tiger was grinning slightly, his expression changing to surprise as the books hit the ground.

Aaron looked around the room and evaluated his escape options. The nearby window wasn't going to work, he was on the seventh floor. He could turn and run, but that meant only one route until he got outside. He couldn't outrun Judy, she was fast. She was too small to take him down unarmed though, and she didn't appear to have a weapon in her outfit. Nick he could outrun he was sure, but that still left the SWAT officer. They looked evenly matched for speed and strength. He'd have to outsmart them, or try to fight all three at the same time. Arron flexed both his hands, extending his claws.

“Hey, you learned a new trick.” Nick noted cheerfully. “Is everything okay?” He asked after a moment of unsure hesitation when Aaron didn't retract. Aaron kept his eyes on the tiger, watching his paws for the first sings of movement.

“Uhh, maybe I'll just go back into the kitchen.” the tiger said after a moment of awkward silence. “I...brought some food I have to heat up. Come find me when you're feeling better, I guess?” He said to Aaron. All three of the animals were now looking at Aaron concerned.

“Oven is by the fridge, sir.” Judy said, never taking her eyes off Aaron who still stood in the doorway, mane standing on end, and claws out, looking ready for battle.

“What is going on with you? Are you okay?” Judy asked, standing up. Aaron flinched as she did.

“Who is that? What does he want?” Aaron took a step back as Judy stepped forward, Nick now getting up from the couch, an arm outstretched towards him.

“That's Captain Tekari, er...Evan. He came to talk to you about something.” Judy advanced on Aaron, correcting herself as the captain had said to call him by his first name outside of the station. Aaron put another foot backwards towards the door.

“I don't have anything to say. They told me about the whole thing.”

“What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind? Again?” Nick asked, eyes darting back and forth between Aaron and the kitchen.

“Everything okay out there? You need some help?” Evan called from deeper in the apartment.

“No!” Answered all three at the same time.

“I heard about the disappearances. All the missing refugees. Is your department rounding us up?” Aaron narrowed his eyes, accusing both of his friends with a glance. The two officers stepped back and adopted looks like a confused dog.

“I hadn't heard about this. I promise.” Judy soothed. “Come, sit down, and we can talk.”

“You sit, I'll stand.” Aaron commanded, but relaxed from his fighting-ready stance. The two obeyed and returned to the couch, giving Aaron space. He stood near the door and told them about the meeting in the park, leaving the part about Farr and the observer wolf out. Judy just sat and grew more worried looking the more she heard.

* * *

 

Some twenty minutes later, Evan stood in the kitchen drinking a long-necked beer. He was beginning to have doubts about Hopps' and Wilde's new “roommate.” They had been talking, and he'd tried to listen in, but wasn't able to hear. The guy knew how to cover his voice. He took another sip of his drink and turned back to the food he had brought which was heating in the oven now when he sensed someone standing behind him. He turned to see Aaron standing just inside the kitchen, looking much more subdued, if a bit cowed. At least he didn't look like he was going to attack someone.

“So.” Aaron started, not sure quite where to begin. “I think I owe you an apology for my behavior.”

Evan looked around the room, the momentary silence feeling awkward. Judy and Nick still were hanging out in the living room.

“Everything okay?” He asked finally.

“Not completely. There's some issues I was informed of earlier today, but I've been assured that you aren't to blame for that.”

“Well, I get blamed for everything else that goes wrong at the station, so I suppose that's a relief.” Evan reached in the fridge and removed a beer bottle, holding it out by the neck. “Want a drink? I brought some beer over. I'm guessing you probably haven't had it before.” He smiled at his own joke.

Aaron eyed the bottle suspiciously, but his mouth watered. He realized he hadn't had a drink since he'd fallen into the world a month and a half ago. Still, he hesitated to take anything from the newcomer.

“Wow. You are jumpy even by feline standards and that's saying a lot. I promise I'm not trying to poison you.” Evan nodded his head to his own beverage that sat on the counter.

Aaron took the bottle with a sigh, dislodging the cap with his teeth. “Okay than. So, we've established that you aren't here to kill me, arrest me, or make me vanish into the night. So what does bring you here then? Nick tells me you head up the police special forces team?”

Evan nodded. “I do, and I have a problem I think you are uniquely suited to help me with.”

* * *

 

“Nope. Can't help you there. Sorry sir.” Aaron shook his head, talking around a mouthful of food. The four animals were sitting around the kitchen table eating. Evan thew his paws in the air.

“That's it? You hear my proposal and just say 'no' like that? I really think you'd be the right lion for this kind of work.”

“I'm sure if I was back home I'd put the proposal under consideration, but I have no idea what I'm doing here. You all have different anatomy, and the medical field here is going to be too different from what I'm used to as a nurse to be of any help.”

“You don't know what you're doing?” Nick asked rhetorically. He reached under the table and held up a notebook. It was filled front to back in notes written in Aaron's handwriting.

“Hey, give me that back!” Aaron reached across the table for his notes. Nick pulled away, holding the book just out of Aaron's reach. When he relented, Nick gave a sly grin, licked a claw tip and opened the notebook.

“You leave a lot of books laying around. We know what you've been studying. Let's have a reading from this shall we?” He gave a wide grin and cleared his throat. “Oh look, here's a drawing of a fox! Nicely labeled and everything. 'Cardiovascular system remarkably similar to human, and appears similar to other mammals. Total blood volumes vary by size of animal. See table for systolic blood pressures by animal type.'” Nick read straight from Aaron's notebook.

“That's pronounced 'sysTOLic'” Aaron corrected, giving a sour look to Nick who continued to flip through pages.

“Oh, and here's a detailed drawing what looks like a rabbit leg. We need to get you booked at an art gallery. Let's see: 'Tibialis anticus tendon, and associated connection to the patella identical to human anatomy. Note that all mammals here are plantigrades, look into evolutionary traits behind rearrangement of hindfoot joint structure.' Yeah, I know some of those words.” Nick struggled through the pronunciation of the names of the anatomical structures. “Geez, this goes on for the whole book. Tables, drawings, and notes. You've been busy.”

“Hmph.” Aaron grunted. “You should see notebooks two and three.”

“So, you have no idea what you're doing when it comes to medicine on this world? You already sound better trained than some of the folks at the hospital.” Evan was still giving that self satisfied grin he'd had through the reading.

“I was a nurse, okay?” Aaron said with an exasperated groan. “I mean, this is what I did. I studied biology and medical care. You can't tell me that if you were me and ended up on a different world you wouldn't be interested in how everyone's bodies worked? In picking out the similarities?”

“I probably wouldn't know where to begin with this stuff, but you've got a real head start. I just think you should consider it. You really could be just what the department needs for dealing with injuries.” Evan pushed his chair back and stood up. “I'll leave you in peace for now. I have work in the morning, but I'll come find you again in a few days. Just please promise me you'll think about my proposal. We really could use you as a medic.”

“I'll think about it, but I don't think you'll like my answer. I really don't know what I'm doing.”

“We'll see about that.” Evan promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes From Reality
> 
> So I've been thinking a lot about how the story is going, and with it how the writing has gone along too. I've come to the decision after reading feedback from people that I'm going to stop cutting content from these chapters in order to save on word count.
> 
> In the first few chapters I was cutting large amounts of my work under the impression that going beyond about 2.5k words would be too fatiguing to read in on a computer screen and would drive people away. (Originally, the Chapter 1 was almost 7,000 words and much more detailed.) I've since been corrected in that thinking and as a result you can expect to see longer, more detailed chapters coming out. As a result my editing process may be a bit longer, as I have more work to go through. 
> 
> I also had to make decisions between two different endings on this chapter, and have read, re-read and agonized over a decision for how to handle Evan and Aaron. It came down to some gracious feedback from a friend and who is a short story author and his wife who are very well respected in my circle of friends for their opinions., more so for reading what could be considered some fringe fan-fic work So, if you get to read this, Cairo and Athena, thank you for all you've done. 
> 
> Thanks also to everyone who is following Nick, Judy and Aaron on their adventures, and feel free to leave your reviews and comments! Chapters eight and nine will be coming sometime in the following week to ten days.


	9. Unconventional Medicine

**Three Days Later**

 

Aaron sat on the couch, legs crossed and a pile of new medical textbooks surrounding him. Evan was back over, leaning on the far wall by the TV, drinking a beer. He watched Aaron with an expectant face

“Yeah, I've considered it. I just don't think I know what I'm doing enough to be effective. I mean, I'm basically an alien here.” Aaron moped, flipping through his notes.

“How many bones do I have in my tail?” Evan asked, swinging his up and catching it by the tip.

“Twenty-one, plus an additional thirty spinal vertebrae compared to a humans twenty-five.” Aaron responded almost automatically without looking up from his notes.

“Right, you sound like you have a terrible grasp of mammal bodies.” Evan grunted, tipping his bottle up and draining the last of the liquid. “Want another?” He indicated the three empties that Aaron had balanced on a book cover.

“Hoping if you get me drunk I'll agree to your plan?” Aaron grinned. “I'm not that cheap of a date. Besides, I'm telling you, we were mammals, so it's not completely different. I mean, I'm studying this stuff because that's what I've always done. You can't tell me if the whole thing got reversed you wouldn't want to know more about how humans were arranged.”

Evan laughed. “I wouldn't know where to start. Look, Judy and Nick should be home soon. When they get in, we'll grab dinner, I can cover you and just hope you feel guilty enough to take the job.”

Almost as if on cue, there was a thump at the door, followed by a scrambling sound. Eyeing the entryway, Evan opened the door, and Judy stumbled in, covered in dirt and mud. She made her way in with a pained expression and a significant limp to her right leg.

“You're hurt.” Observed Aaron. She stopped in the middle of the room and gave an unconvincing smile.

“It's nothing. Had a foot chase that went south. Just came down on that leg wrong. I'll be okay.” She tried to play off the injury like it was nothing, but she wasn't walking on it properly. At least she was still putting weight on it, Aaron noted.

“Right, I'm sold.” He said, getting up from his seat. He walked over to the rabbit and picked her up, carrying her over to the couch. “Why don't you sit there and quit trying to walk on it?”

“Do we need to get you to a hospital?” Evan asked, concerned.

“Hello Captain Tekari.” Judy smiled through her pain and indignation over being picked up like a toy.

“I've told you to just call me Evan. We're not at work. You're not answering my question.” He scolded.

“Give me a moment before we go rushing off to the emergency room.” Aaron held up a paw, waving off Evan. Even took a step back and gave a thin smile.

“Alright. Your call.”

Aaron shot him a look, and turned his attention back to Judy. “Where's it hurting? He asked, crouching beside her.

“Knee. I went chasing after this suspect that was running and I leaped and came down funny.”

“Alright, give me a moment.” Aaron got up and went to the bathroom, where he had located a first aid pack.

“So, we've got a bunny that can't jump and a medic that can't heal anyone. You two are a pair.” Evan joked. Aaron decided to ignore the opportunity for a rebuttal and returned to the living room.

“Okay, take off your pants.” He said in a matter-of-fact command to Judy.

She gave Aaron a shocked look like he had told her to go jump out of the window. “What?”

Aaron paused at tearing strips from one of the old shirts he'd picked up from Finnick and put his hands on his hips. “Your pants. Take them off. I can't examine your knee through all that gear, and I don't have my X-ray goggles.”

Judy eyed Evan and Aaron with narrowed eyes, and slowly removed her knee pads and the neoprene-like pants she wore to work. “You always ask animals to get undressed in front of their friends and co-workers?” She grumbled, struggling to get her bad knee from the pant leg.

Aaron finished using a claw to cut down a triangular section from the shirt he had ripped up. “Yes.” He said bluntly. “I've stripped people down naked in front of a company of soldiers in the middle of a busy city street. You have the advantage of at least being at home. Now let me see that leg.”

He crouched down next to Judy, where she had propped her leg up on the cushion. Taking the bottom of her foot, he placed his other paw on the outside of her hip, pressing inward and flexing her leg toward her body. The bone remained stable and didn't pop, both of which were good signs.

“Does that hurt?” He asked, the answer obvious as she bit her lower lip.

He moved to the knee next, flexing the patella with a thumb, and checking the stability. It was stable, and like the knee didn't grind. Neither did the base of her thighbone, or the top of the lower leg. Satisfied, he took the cloth and wrapped it tightly around her knee, stabilizing it and then going for an ice pack. Evan followed him, silent but obviously waiting for an update.

“Well, the good news is it's not broken and the ligaments are intact.” He said, putting ice into a small resealable plastic sandwich bag.

“You can tell that without an X-ray?” Evan asked, surprised.

“There's no deformity and she can put weight on it. She's small enough that I'd be able to feel any bone instability in the femur or tibia right away. The ligaments and tendons are still intact too, but the cruciate ligament is probably inflamed. I can fix that with the wrap, an ice pack and some anti-inflammatory drugs. She should be okay by the next day as long as she doesn't insist on walking around on it.” He brought back the ice pack to Judy, placed it on her knee and gave her some instructions.

“So, absolutely no idea about what you're doing, huh?” Evan turned Aaron around and gave him a look.

“This is a far cry from me treating someone who's been shot in the spleen while I take return fire. But fine; if it makes you feel better, lets go to the station tomorrow and talk to your boss. ” Aaron tore another strip of cloth to fasten the ice pack down. As he ripped the shirt, the door opened, and Nick stumbled in from his day off looking slightly inebriated himself. He stopped as soon as came in, and surveyed the scene: Aaron with a partly ripped shirt in his paws, Judy sitting with her leg up on the coffee table in her underwear, and Capt. Tekari standing by and supervising the whole ordeal.

“Did I miss a party? I can come back later.” Nick offered, hooking a thumb at the door.

“No, come on in. Make yourself comfortable. We were just going to the drugstore. Come on, I'll give you a lift, Judy.” Aaron said.

“Give her a lift?” Nick questioned, still confused about what was going on. “When did you get a car?”

“No, no. I mean she's small enough. I can just lift and carry her.” He crouched down next to Judy and held out his arms. Judy responded by drawing back her left leg, and kicking Aaron in the chest.

* * *

**The Next Day**

 

Aaron stood in the lobby to the Zootopia Police Department Headquarters. He'd dressed out as best he could, borrowing money from Nick for a suit, tie and slacks from a local secondhand store, and spent the morning grooming carefully, ironing the suit jacket and shirt to a sharp military crease. All thing considered, he looked decent dressed up. It made him think of when he had gone for his interview with his first hospital, trying to look as best as he could with no experience except the Army to back him.

“Uh, you can go back now Mr. Ledbetter.” An extremely obese cheetah waved him forward. _B. Clawhauser_ was engraved on a desk plaque. “Try not to let the chief eat you alive.” He whispered as Aaron walked past the desk. 

“Right, thank you.” Aaron nodded and the desk sergeant went back to sucking soda from a glass bottle with a straw. It made a loud rattling sound that echoed sharply in the marble interior. Aaron followed the edge of the lobby around to the back. Two rhinos passed by the opposite way, dwarfing Aaron, and looking down with a glare.

At the rear of the circular lobby with its brass floor inlay, a large door was centered in the room. The door said it belonged to a Chief Bogo, and he could hear heated discussion coming from inside the large door. He knocked firmly at it, and straightened his tie.

“Come in already!” A gruff voice yelled from inside. Aaron opened the door, putting his game face on, and stepped inside. A large cape buffalo with a police uniform was behind an equally large desk. The buffalo was top heady enough that Aaron was surprised his knees didn't break under the stress of the weight above them. Captain Tekari was standing in front of the desk, tricked out in a utility belt, and a similar neoprene bodysuit to what Judy wore to work, embroidered with a SWAT label on the back of his vest. 

“Come on in Aaron. This is Chief Bogo, head of the police department. We were just talking about you.” Evan said. Aaron walked in and stood in front the desk at a parade rest position that he adopted naturally.

“This is your guy Captain?” The Chief looked down and snorted. There was a warm, barnyard smell on his breath.

“This is him, sir. Chief, I'd like you to meet Aaron Ledbetter. He's one of the Portal Refugees from the incident the other month, and he is in a unique position to fill a critical need for the ZPD.” Evan gave an impressive elevator speech, but the chief continued to stare Aaron down with beady eyes. Bogo slammed a button on his phone and yelled into the intercom. “Clawhauser. Get me officers Hopps and Wilde. Now!”

A few minutes of awkward silence later Judy and Nick came walking in. Judy's face brightened when she saw Aaron standing ramrod straight at the desk. “You came!” She squealed, running in. Aaron gave a subtle smile out of the corner of his mouth and looked down.

“The captain convinced me. How's the knee?” He asked.

Judy flexed her right leg a few times, showing it off. “It's great. You were totally right about it.”

Nick grabbed the edge of the suit Aaron was wearing, feeling the fabric “Looks good on you.” He said quietly. Aaron just nodded and snapped his head back to looking at the chief.

“So, this is your rescue project hmm?” Bogo looked down at Judy. “Surprised he hasn't gone savage on you yet.” He said, the disapproving stare never deviating from Aaron.

“He's been very nice to have around. Very helpful. I wouldn't be at work today if he wasn't there last night.” Judy asserted herself.

“Hrmph.” The chief grunted. “So, what do you have to say for yourself?” Bogo directed his question to Aaron. A thousand different answers made a low, fast pass through Aaron's head, at least nine hundred of which were no good to either being too rude or smart-assed to say to a prospective commanding officer.

“How are Officers Hathen and Powers doing?” Aaron asked, his voice calm and measured.

“How do you know about-” Bogo started, coming to a fast conclusion in his head. He gave Nick and Judy a hostile stare before composing himself. “They're doing fine. Powers was released from the hospital yesterday, and Hathen is going to be in rehab for a while, but should bounce back to his old self. What does this have to do with anything?”

“Everything Chief. This is what I'm trying to say. We could have done a lot more for those two if we had a tactical medic. Mr. Ledbetter here can fill that role for us.”

“Can you now?” He ignored Evan's statements and turned back to Aaron. “What if I wanted to see proof of your supposed amazing abilities?”

Aaron rubbed his chin for a moment, calculating some data in his head . “Let me see: Without knowing anything else, I'd say you're a cape buffalo. I'd put you at just under nine feet tall, probably around four fifty to five hundred pounds. Your species is prone to hip and knee problems due to uneven weight balancing, but evolutionary this was offset by a wider pelvic girdle and larger gluteobiceps and gastrocnemius muscles. You sit hunched over at your desk, leading me to believe that you are a risk for compression of the anterior spinal disks. You can fix that by putting a pillow behind your lower back by the way. Now, if you'd like to try shooting at me a few times, I can probably recheck Officer Hopps' leg while you do so.” He said, loosing his spiel with the same carefully measured words that he had used before.

Chief Bogo went wide eyed as he talked. He wasn't sure if the lion had just called him fat using fancy language, but it was a slightly impressive analysis for being off the cuff. Bogo straightened his back up in his chair carefully, raising him even higher above the desk. When he spoke again, it was lower and quieter. “So, you think that showing means you can take care of my officers then?”

“Well, I can't say for sure, but I think I have a good grasp of the basics. As I'm sure the Captain told you, I know how to handle myself under dangerous situations. My former species was a little on the war happy side so I've been in my share of combat areas, and that never slowed me down. I don't think anything this city can throw at me will either.” Aaron rationalized. He still wasn't totally sold on the idea that Evan, Judy and Nick had come up with for him to get a job, and the more he spoke the less confidant he felt. He never let it show however. 'Fake it 'till you make it.' was his motto.

“Well, that's all wonderful,” Bogo responded in a voice that suggested that everything was the exact opposite of wonderful. “But I don't have an official position or budgeting for you.”

“Well, I know you have the executive power to make positions when it is believed to be in the best interest of the city's well being.” Evan stepped forward again. “As for the budget, you can put it against my unit. Besides, you even told me how the mayor was spearheading efforts to get the refugees into the workforce. I'm sure if I made an appointment with Lionheart's offices, they could find it in the budget for a single position.”

“You'll do no such thing Captain. This is my show to run. Fine though, we'd have to train him.” Chief Bogo thought for a moment. “There's not a training program with the city for this kind of position.”

“Work with me, and I bet we can put something together that would satisfy what we need him to learn.”

Evan and Bogo continued to talk around Aaron for the next few minutes, while he stood in his parade rest posture, never moving. Just like the old days.

“Alright, okay.” Bogo said, his patience worn out with the meeting. “You want the position? You'll have it. You'll have to go to training. At least the emergency medical services program and police academy to start.” Bogo turned his attention back to Judy and shook his head. “So, first I hire you. A bunny, onto the force to appease the office of the mayor. You then talk me into hiring a fox, who has a history of being a con artist. Now you want me to make special provisions for someone who is not even from this planet. You are not to suggest any further animals for hire with the department. Next you'll ask me to make a position for a potted plant.”

Nick gave his signature sly grin to the chief, and Aaron knew he was about to make a comment that would probably them all kicked from the room.

“Well, you know if you're ever on vacation that plant could fill in for you.” Nick said with a grin, looking around for anyone to react. Aaron stayed at parade rest, and mentally cringed. The chief evidently had the wherewithal to not respond to Nick.

“You say you've got a head start in learning your books, hmm?” He said after a pause.

“I've been doing some light homework, yes sir.” Aaron confessed.

“Good. You'll do the accelerated program.”

* * *

 

Following the meeting, Aaron stood at a table outside a nearby coffee shop down the street from the station. He blew on across the top of a cup of black coffee that was a far cry better than what Nick had been making at home and looked at his cell phone. A police cruiser pulled up to the curb, nearly jumping it. Judy and Nick emerged from the front seats.

“I feel like I should make a joke about cops and donuts.” Aaron said, holding up a strawberry frosted pastry that he was nibbling on. Nick elbowed Aaron in the chest.

“See? Told you we'd get him to give you a job.”

Aaron sat down at a woven iron table and took a bite of his donut. “Training isn't a job. I'm kind of worried he's setting me up for failure with whatever he comes up with for me.”

Judy jumped up on a neighboring chair and rested her head on her paws. “Yeah, we know that feeling. Should have seen what I drew for my first case. He tried to fire me twice in my first two days on the force.”

Nick laughed. “Those are rookie numbers, carrots. He's tried to fire me....” Nick counted on his claws, totaling up all the altercations he'd had with the chief. “At least seven times.”

Aaron made a sour face at the news. “So, I can count on losing my job a lot. That's a good sign. Do you just warm up to him as times goes on?

“No.” came the reply in unison.

* * *

 

**Pawmont Park, One Week Later**

 

Aaron and Shay walked down the asphalt footpath near where it crossed under itself at the bridge, pausing to watch a set of bikers hot-dogging the other way. It was a bright, sunny afternoon.

“So, you're leaving?” Shay asked, pausing and taking Aaron's hand. He continued to look down the path, avoiding eye contact, but holding her by the paw with a comforting squeeze.

“It's just for a little while. Three months while I do the training program. It's going to be pretty intense.” He said, distantly.

“But what about us? What about me?” She asked, turning Aaron toward her with frustration in her voice.

“You'll be fine.” He assured her looking in her eyes. “We've made it this far ourselves. I just need to get this job behind me and then we can focus on more important things.”

“Okay, I guess. But what about us? We've got people disappearing and you're just running off the join the police on some job that they sound like they don't even want to give you.”

“I'll make them love me. You'll see. If not, I'll just poke 'em with needles till they beg for mercy.” He joked. Shay smiled a little at his attempt at humor, and they walked on. Randall and Mary sat on a park bench nearby. They both rose and greeted the two felines as they got in range. Randall as usual was looking pissed off.

“So now I hear you're just going off and joining the police? Is that right?” He accused Aaron like he was the father who'd just found out about his son was sneaking off to a party in the middle of the night.

“Relax dear. You're going to burst something.” Mary consoled him, a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, plan on joining the force and coming by to arrest you for being such an ass.” Aaron sneered at Randall, secretly amused.

“We're just concerned about the direction you're taking with things, hon.” Mary said in a soothing voice. “We still don't know where all the missing refugees are, and we haven't ruled out that the police are involved.

Aaron stood quiet for a moment, putting his rebuttal together than stepped forward to address the others.

“So, I don't think from what I've been through the last few days that the police are involved. Hear me out: Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde first, the two officers I'm rooming with. Nick is a fox and a pretty crafty one, but not quite put together enough to perpetrate a widespread kidnapping ring. He's too much in love with keeping himself amused to be able to pull it off successfully. Besides, he's been pretty nice to me, but not in a way that suggest he tapping me for information or plotting to make me vanish in the night.

“Judy has a few things going against her: One she strikes me as almost incorruptible. She's got a very high sense of justice and 'right vs wrong.' She can be pretty emotional too, I think the guilt of helping vanish dissidents would make her hair fall out. Also, too small to kidnap anyone. She's a bunny and not quite three feet tall even. She'd need too much help.” Aaron paced back and forth while he spoke.

“Captain Tekari is the head of the SWAT team, and while he has the size, he strikes me again as having too much of a sense of social justice to be willing to do that sort of thing. Last is the chief of police. Big sack of muscles I had a meeting with last week. He's got the size, resources and might know how to kidnap a large amount of folks and hide them. The thing is, I just don't think he cares enough to try that. He stuck me as overworked and more worried about running the department than some refugees disappearing.”

Randall laughed and gave Aaron a nod. “Well, look at detective L here. Maybe you do have a future in police work.”

“A lot of being good at medicine is knowing how to read people, or I guess I should say animals now.”

“Hard habit to break” Randall admitted.

“So again Aaron, this is one thing if the police aren't involved, but our group is still disappearing. Just because it isn't a few creatures you know doesn't mean that there isn't someone involved here. Mary pointed out, redirecting the conversation.

“I'm not saying that something isn't happening, but we need to approach this in a rational manner. I'm going to be gone for the next twelve weeks I'm told. When I get back, and maybe have some more authority behind me, I can try to figure out what really happened, assuming it's not been corrected on it's own.”

We've got a bunch of abducted refugees, and your solution is just 'wait for three months 'till I get back?” Randal asked, flabbergasted at the concept. “We need to act!”

“We need to act rationally. We can't just go all vigilante justice on everyone. Besides, we don't know they've been kidnapped, just that they're leaving. So, listen up cause I need you to do some things for me while I can't do them myself.” Aaron took his cell phone out and made a call.

* * *

 

Judy and Nick came down the park path, and found Aaron with the others. He was standing in the middle of the three other animals who surrounded him in a loose circle. As Nick approached the circle, it broke up slightly to admit them. A fallow deer with a large rack gave him a frown and turned away.

“Got your text big guy. There some sort of a problem?” Nick looked over his shades at the deer who was standing with his arms crossed.

“No. Like I said, not an emergency, I just want you to meet some folks I know from...the portal event. Randall, cool the attitude man.” Aaron said, stepping in front of Randall, who relaxed slightly.

“So, these are your roommates huh?” Randall ignored the officers for the moment.

“Benefactors is probably more like it, but yes.” Aaron said. “This is officers Hopps and Wilde.” He indicated the two in turn.

“Shaena Burner. Everyone just calls me Shay though” She couched down and shook hands with Nick and Judy, smiling.

The fallow doe bent over and greeted them. “Mary Stone. The off-putting one over here is my husband Randy.”

“That's Randall to you two.” He grumbled, still upset.

“Great, so now that you all know each other and can be wonderful friends,” Arron grabbed Randall by the shoulders and shook him. “We can get on with things. Like I said, I need you to do three things for me.” Aaron turned back to address the group. “One,if we hear any more about disappearances from our numbers I want you to report it to the police. Judy and Nick can act as your liaisons for that. Judy and Nick, if you two can keep track of those for me, I'll give you whatever information I've got about the missing. I'm doing my best to keep track of where we all went after the events, but it's been hard since the media attention died down.

“Second, Let's keep an eyes out for new camps popping up. I know there's been a lot of us who were trying to live off the grid or didn't go for the public housing solution. Maybe check any homeless shelters, or other places urban campers like to congregate.“

“It's gonna be tricky to dig mammals up out here, especially if they never got put in the system like you did.” Nick pointed out. He had a good point though. It wasn't like anyone would have come with an ID card and birth certificate. Judy was thinking for the moment, hard enough that Nick could practically see the gears in her head turning.

“Hospital records!” She realized. “They were getting taken to hospitals by the hundreds. I'll bet most of them have some sort of record at the hospital, and we could track them by that.”

“Sly bunny.” Nick smiled.

“However you do it, I'd love it if the chief can give this some attention. I'm sure he wont do it for my sake, but maybe because of it being his job. I won't be able to help.”

“Yeah, they're going to keep you busy. You're doing this in half the normal time.” Judy realized.

“I've dealt with worse. I'll make it work if I have to kill myself doing it.” Aaron reassured her in the darkest way possible. The course he was taking had been proposed as a medley between the police academy and the EMS academy. It was going to be rough, but Aaron had a head start on his books already. “Now, I've got to leave. I've got to pack the few things I have and it's going to be an early morning tomorrow.

“Can you give me a second everyone?” Shay grabbed Aaron by the paw and lead him away from the group. She turned him to her and looked him deeply in the eyes.

“I know everyone wants you to be the leader in this, and fix all the problems, but I just want you to know you don't have to. I just want you to be safe.”

Aaron paused at this sudden tender talk. It was probably the first real caring speech he'd heard from someone since he'd landed. “I'm going to be fine Shay. I've had to do harder things in the past and I always come out on top. This isn't going to be any different. I'm going to come back, and be better than ever.”

“I know you will. You seem like you always do. I just want you to come back to us. You were the first one to offer me some comfort on that night the portals opened. Do you remember that?” She rested her head on his shoulder, and Aaron looked off to the horizon.

' _ Hey, it's going to be okay.' _ He remembered. He hoped it was true. 

 


	10. The Hard High Road

**Zootopia Public Safety Academy**

**Six Weeks Since Program Start**

Aaron lay face down in a mud puddle, not moving. Freezing cold, stinking soil stuck to his fur, and threatened to overwhelm his ability to breathe. A heavy downpour rained on him from above from a clear blue sky, generated courtesy of a series of sprinklers running above the training field designed to simulate conditions in the Rainforest District. Lying beside him the rest of the recruits shivered in the filth and a golden jackal lifted his head and coughed violently, overcome by the mud stuck to his muzzle.

The large polar bear that stood at the head of the field seemed to be the only one enjoying herself. She strode through the field, ignoring or oblivious to the water and gunk, she picked the jackal up by the shoulders and glared at him.

"Recruit Alton! Did I say you were allowed to cough during my exercise?" She bellowed an inch from his face. The jackal put his ears back and cringed, sputtering mud up as he continued to cough.

"No, Major Friedkin." He managed to gurgle out. She dropped Alton with a splash, and he watched her go, still hacking.

"You keep your muzzles above the waterline or you're dead!" the major yelled. "Medic!"

Aaron lifted his head from the mire and called out in response.

"What would you do for someone who is choking on mud?" She hollered.

"Check the airway, Major. If they were in significant distress, place them in a side laying position to encourage draining of liquids. Administer oxygen and be ready to provide rescue breathing." He said in a loud, firm voice.

"Well, get to it then kitty!" She ordered. Rain dripped off her hat brim, with its Drill Instructor embroidery on the forehead. Aaron rose to his feet and reached for the backpack he wore. It was soaked, and contained no actual medical supplies but rather was loaded with twenty pounds of bricks designed to simulate a jump bag. A red cross symbol on a white background had been stenciled on the back panel.

"Did I say you could stand up recruit?" Major Friedkin yelled as soon as Aaron had gotten up and begun to make his way over to the jackal. Aaron answered negatively, and dropped back to his belly, trying to crawl over to his victim. His clothes were filled inside and out with mud. He wasn't sure he would ever get the dirt from his coat. He made his target and helped Alton over to his side.

"Come on, get the mud out of your face. Let's keep it tight." He said. Alton cleared the mud from his muzzle with a final cough and spat mud out growling.

"Good job Ledbetter! Now, twenty pushups for getting out of position. The rest of you start moving forward again."

* * *

The classroom was a far sight better than the training grounds outside, but built like he remembered Fort Benning. They were completely utilitarian, no work put into the aesthetics of decoration of the place. Aaron sat with a textbook and notepad writing. Dried mud had worked its way down into the base of his coat and he struggled to ignore the itching.

He had only enough time following drill in the rainforest simulator park to simply towel off and run to his next course while the police academy recruits went to their classes. Aaron was stuck in a strange hybridized program designed by the Chief and Captain Tekari to prepare him for his eventual assignment as a police tactical medic. He days were long, awkwardly paced and very rushed.

The mornings were started with inspection and PT with the police academy side, and then he would join the police recruits for classroom time for the morning. Following that was lunch, which Aaron would commonly skip to work out in the gym, taking a meal bar with him that Judy had been kind enough to send him packages of while he'd been away. Then came field drills for the early afternoon, and the late afternoon and evening was filled with emergency medical responder classes, designed for recruits planning on working with ZMS, the ambulance provider for the city. The academy grounds provided training for the police, EMS, and Fire Department, all with their own sections and training areas. Overall the center was very well put together, but in perfect example of Murphy's Law, the Police Academy and EMS Academy were on opposite sides of the campus, and time between courses was a minimum.

Up at the front of the classroom, a mouse on a small podium lectured into a microphone. His voice was punctuated by occasional squeals of feedback. Aaron took his notes rapidly. He was part of the accelerated program, condensing what was normally a six month program down into three and the lectures were non-stop races in keeping up with the work.

"Okay, continuing on with trauma for now. We're going to look at some pictures of injuries, and I want you to tell me how you would assess and treat them. Fair warning: some of these pictures are quite graphic." The lecturer flipped slides on the projector and brought up a photo of a leg, or rather the remains of it. Silver fur had been stained red from a jagged wound down the midline of the lower leg, and the tissue was obscured with blood. The wound itself wasn't cleanly made. It had a torn, ragged appearance. Strips of flesh overlaid the margins of the injury.

"Oh, that's nasty." A porcupine said, turning away. She looked back and forth to the other students in the room.

"Any thoughts on this photo?" the instructor asked.

"Yeah, somebody had a bad day." Joked a squirrel at the front of the classroom.

Aaron though for a moment and raised his arm. He could still smell the rancid mud on his body and was sure that everyone else could too.

"It was done with something jagged. I'm guessing a chainsaw. Wound edges are not approximated and it looks like the injury is deeper further down the leg towards the ankle where it dug in. Aside from the obvious concerns for infection and blood loss, I'd be worried about the integrity of the bone structure that far down." He said. The mouse nodded for him to continue. "I've seen worse, but first things first, I'd need to control the bleeding. Direct pressure isn't going to work on a wound like that so, I'd just put pressure on the nearest pulse point like the groin. See if I could slow the bleeding that way. It's going to need some sort of electrical or chemical cautery to be effective."

"Good! That's an excellent assessment; I see you've been studying well. You are correct about everything, including the injury." The slide flipped and showed a silver fox on a gurney, wearing construction vest, and looking appropriately agonized. "This was taken following a construction accident in Tundra Town where workers were using chainsaws to remove excessive ice. Now, please get out your pharmacology textbooks and find three examples of chemical coagulation agents we might use in the field for bleeding of this nature. You have three minutes."

* * *

Aaron sat on his bunk with a textbook open beside him and changed into a fresh shirt. It was night now, and most of the recruits were either playing cards, on their phones or otherwise relaxing. Aaron had finally cleaned up and finished getting the soil from his undercoat. He flipped through a few pages of the textbook, closed it and got up.

"Where you headed off to this time of night?" A Wild Dog named Ralston asked Aaron as he got up.

"Running, then see if I can get some more studying in." Aaron picked up a pair of books and stuffed them into a backpack.

"Do you ever actually sleep?" Ralston nodded towards the bunks which lined the threadbare carpeted room. There must have been some sort of multi-universal law that stated that all government constructed bunk rooms had to use the same shade of sewage gray low pile carpets in them. Aaron looked at the clock at the front of the room. It was just past nine at night.

"I sleep for a few hours normally between one and four in the morning. It's enough to keep me going the rest of the day if I don't overeat and stay hydrated. I figure I can sleep when I'm dead. Assuming I keep up this pace, that will be sometime next month." He quipped.

"Oh, yeah. Didn't you hear? Ledbetter is special. His kind don't sleep. They're some sort of super animal." A capybara gave Aaron an ugly, toothy sneer. He had decided on day one of the program that he didn't like Aaron, and made his opinion known frequently. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one. A large number of the other students had come to dislike Aron, either for his unusual origin, his species type or his academic performance.

"Yeah, heard their kind don't sleep, don't eat and they're all a hundred feet tall and have laser eyes. Oh and they're all geniuses." Added an okapi sitting across the room with a laugh.

"Well, guess we got all the defective ones out here than." The capybara said. "You ever think about going back where you came from? Maybe take the others with you?"

Aaron hitched the backpack up onto his back and headed toward the door. "Yeah, all the time. You should come with me, you'd fit right in with all the other assholes in my life." He said, and left the bunk room, slamming the door on the way out.

The night air was cool and comfortable. It was perfect for fitting in a workout and sitting outside and studying under one of the streetlights and away from the crowded bunkers. Aaron had come to notice that even with the wide variety of airways, noses and skull shapes, snoring was still very much a thing here.

A cloud of smoke blew past his nostrils, and he looked to his right. A maned wolf stood outside leaning against the wall to the bunks and smoking. He looked at Aaron and nodded.

"You always gonna let them talk to you like that?" He asked, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Hello Saris." Aaron sighed. "I've only got six more weeks of this than I never have to deal with them again."

Saris looked up at moths circling a lamp on the side of the building. "Right, than you can just deal with them for the next thirty years or whatever once you're on the force. They aren't going to let up."

Aaron shook his head. "I really thought that kind of thing was unique to us. Come an entire universe away and end up on a different world and still get prejudice."

"Well, you got a few things going against you: One is you're a predator. The prey types never got along real well with the preds, and after the whole Bellwether problem it just got worse. You got lucky. You weren't even here for that." He said.

"I heard the stories. It makes me wonder about some of the parallels between words. Too many similarities."

"Well, that's the other thing. No matter what they're always going to see you as an outsider. You aren't from here. It's been what, maybe a few months since you've been here?" Saris continued.

"A bit longer. I kind of lost track with everything here. I suppose in the long run there is nothing I can do about it. I can't change who I am, or where I came from."

"You're never going to fit in here. You know that right?" Saris stared out across the grass field that separated them from the main police academy building.

"It's not about fitting in. It's about fulfilling a role." Aaron said, not sure if he was addressing Saris or his own insecurities more.

Saris nodded in a slow up-and-down. "At least you seem to be coming out ahead of a lot of the other refugees. News was doing a follow up story on you all a few days ago. Some of them are a real mess."

"Yeah, well come see how I'm doing after the board exams. We had a phrase about never counting your chickens. I'm going to go get some work done." Aaron slapped the backpack.

"Don't let me keep you, you glorious mess. Taking the high road is never easy. " Saris said to the empty night air as Aaron jogged away.

* * *

 

"Okay, kickboxing! Everyone get geared up!" Major Friedkin yelled, blowing her whistle. The area around the boxing ring was crowded with both recruits and employees from the police department. It was a popular event to come see and a number of officers that were either off-duty or not busy had come to watch the recruits beat each other into as much submission as they could muster. Aaron noted with some happiness that Judy and Nick were among the audience. He hadn't seen them in weeks.

He pulled on a set of boxing gloves and threw a few punches into the air, getting used to the feeling of the equipment. He'd been practicing in the gym after hours, going to town on the punching bags. It was satisfying to get to hit something again, and made for a good break between book review. After hours the area was pretty much deserted, allowing him the opportunity to fight without being edged out of the way by other students. It had also allowed him to hone his old close combat skills again.

"You all remember the drill from last time. On call, report to the ring, start from the center. Winner stays and next mammal goes in. Try to stay up as many rounds as you can. Those of you who can't, take your beating and sit down. Pair it up!" Friedkin ordered with a screech from her whistle.

A zebra with a short cropped mane took her place across from Aaron. "Well, natural enemies I guess." She mused. "You aren't from around here. Tell me hon, you ever been kicked in the face by a zebra?" She brought her knee up in a few quick exercises.

"Well, there was that time with the donkey in Tijuana" Aaron said.

"What?" the zebra looked shocked and confused. Aaron held up his gloves and shrugged his shoulders, a toothy smile on his face.

"Ledbetter and Zabala, you're up first! Move it!" Friedkin snapped.

"Well, you've got my most sincere apologies." Aaron said as they crossed through the elastic ropes onto the canvas platform.

"What for?" Zabala looked over her shoulder, giving him a questioning look.

"For what I am going to do to you in here." Aaron said with an grin and an ominous tone to his voice and put in his mouth guard. The opponents took places across from each other and tapped gloves, pulling up into defensive positions. The instructor blew her whistle again, signaling the start of the round.

The pair danced around in quick steps, sizing each other up. Aaron watched Zabala's hooves and hands, analyzing her movement. She took short sideways steps, her legs close together. Her center of balance was higher because of her narrow stance. This was an advantage, Aaron realized. She lashed out with a sideways punch, more of an arm swinging action than a real punch. It was slow and sloppy, and Aaron ducked under it easily. She followed up with several quick low strikes that he stepped out of the way from.

Aaron danced around Zabala's attempts at hits almost effortlessly. He blocked and deflected her punches with minimal impact, not needing to put his best attempts forward with his faster reflexes.. He zipped past a kick and stepped back, lowering his guard and growling. "Come on! If you're going to hit me, hit me!" He snarled.

The impact hit him so hard he thought he'd shatter. Zabala swing around a hoof and connected solidly with the side of Aaron's head. The padded helmet did little to lessen the sensation of his brain rattling in his skull. Taking a step back, he managed to remain standing and brought his arms back up to the front of his chest.

Aaron nodded slowly at Zabala who had stepped back and looked shocked that she had managed to hit him. "That's better." He said softly, and went on the attack. He jumped forward and into strike range of the zebra again. She lashed out with a roundhouse kick, which Aaron ducked under. As soon as she got her leg to maximum extension, he swung his own leg out in a reverse of her kick, going low. He caught her on the left leg just behind the knee, which she was supporting her weight on, and hooked inwards toward himself.

Zabala's left leg came out from under her and flew up into the air, tipping her backwards. As she hung in the air, Aaron moved quickly in before she could hit the ground and assisted her decent by driving a downward facing fist into the center of her chest, accelerating her towards the mat. She struck the canvas so hard she bounced twice on her back with a surprised and hurt expression. Aaron finished crushing her into the ground and got back up, arm drawn back and ready to deliver another blow if she rose. She didn't and the whistle blew again.

"Next!" Friedkin yelled.

Six opponents later, including two well above his weight class Aaron was still standing. He stood in the corner of the ring, panting. His right eye twitched occasionally and the blood rushed in his ears. It had been years since he'd fought like this. The feeling was exhilarating, and brought back memories of the war. Not so much the horrors of the wounded, but of feeling young and invincible again. Mixed martial arts with his squad mates back at Fort Stewart before he'd deployed, charging into battle with the roar of gunfire around him and tracers streaking through the desert night, patrols in the scorching heat with full armor on and his band of brothers all around him.

"Come on!" He bellowed, holding his arms aloft. "Come get me! You all hate me so much, here's your chance!" None of the other recruits that remained stepped forward. Major Friedkin hung her massive body off the ropes, and beamed. It had been a while since she had seen anyone fight like that, and it was not only impressive coming from someone she had doubted could hold their own, but highly entertaining.

"Don't make me start volunteering you!" She said, threatening the remaining mammals.

"I want to go a round." A small voice from the back of the room. The gym had filled up as the fighting continued and Aaron's pugilism drew more attention.

"Okay, someone who has a pair." Friendkin said with joy in her voice. "Come in and get to it." Aaron watched with some confusion as the crowd shifted from the back forward. His excitement at another round turned quickly to horror as Judy stepped out from between two students. He quietly swore to himself.

"Hey, I remember you fluffy!" Major Friedkin smiled at Judy as she walked into the circle of bodies around the boxing ring itself, stripping her duty uniform from her top and grabbing the most minuscule set of boxing gloves that were available.

"Absolutely not." Aaron shook his head. "No way. I'm not going to do this." He told the Major.

"Did I give you a choice Recruit Ledbetter?" Friedland barked, her face stone serious again.

"No ma'am." Aaron snapped to attention. "May I point out that I've been fighting other members of the academy though?"

"Officers have priority over you worthless fuzz balls. Officer Hopps wants to fight you, she gets to fight you. Gear up Hopps. I'm sure Recruit Ledbetter won't have anything to say about it."

_Apparently they don't know who I live with, thank goodness._ Aaron thought, turning back to the drill instructor with one final plea for logic.

"With all due respect ma'am, Officer Hopps is about one-third my height and a fifth my weight. I'll injure her." He looked at the other worn out victims of his last rounds. Zabala still was slumped in a chair, looking dazed. A rhino he'd fought in the second wave was rubbing his knee and giving Aaron a dirty look.

"Well, you're just going to have to adapt your fighting than. You think that every mammal you have to deal with on the streets is gonna be the same size and weight as you?" Friedkin said. "Besides, you're quick, but you ever seen her fight before? She's taken down way bigger than you."

Judy had finished putting on a padded headpiece and boxing gloves. She jumped into the ring, vaulting over the ropes in a single bound, and the whistle blew.

Aaron had to bend down to tap off against her, gingerly tapping her glove like she would fracture at a touch. Again, the pair bounded around the ring, Judy taking quick jumps left and right.

"Judy, er, Officer Hopps. Don't do this. You're going to end up hurt." Aaron said as quietly as he could out of the corner of his mouth. Judy shook her head 'no' and lunged at him. She was fast. Really fast. She zipped at Aaron's right knee and he brought it up, getting hit but deflecting her in the process. She rolled across the floor and was back on her feet without missing a second.

"Listen. I'm going to hit you, you're going to end up injured and I'm not going to be at home to help you." He growled.

"Come on recruit. Try it." She said, speaking fast as she sprung around him.

Judy and Aaron zipped around each other for several more minutes, her springing at Aaron and him dodging or deflecting her blows, but never attempting to hit back. He made a few more attempts to dissuade her from the match, all unsuccessful.

Judy took a running leap at the ropes behind Aaron, and the elastic cord stretched behind the force. She launched from the recoil and catapulted through the air, foot extended and headed right towards Aaron's face. She could see him almost in slow motion turn, give a started expression and then...

THWAP! Aaron snapped his gloves up, catching her in them midair like an oversized baseball. He held her body in one glove and raised the other, looked her in the face and then gently but firmly set her down on the canvas.

"No." He said, with an unshakable tone. "I'm not doing this." He turned back toward Major Friedkin expecting her to come over the lines and maul him herself for insubordination. Instead she gave him a assured smile and blew her whistle.

"Very good." She said calmly. She turned to face the other students. "Sometimes using more force in an altercation is not the correct way to handle things. You will need to temper your use of physical energy to match the situation, no matter how out of control it may get. Remember we are to be the protectors and justice bringers of the city, not its oppressors." She lectured everyone. "You did exceptionally well Ledbetter. You may exit the ring."

* * *

It was mid-morning and Aaron walked the hall between classrooms in the police academy building. Normally at this time there would be several other students roaming the corridors as well, migrating to other areas, but he was alone now, a fact that made him uneasy. Behind him, there was the sound of running and he turned to look, not able to catch who was making the noise, but only a streak of grey. He decided to investigate, and moved carefully to see around the corner where the runner had gone when he heard them yell "Now!" from inside a doorway.

Before he could assess the situation, there was a bellowing sound, and the thump of heavy footsteps behind him. Aaron turned just in time to see a large black bull charging him before he rammed his shoulder into Aaron's chest, knocking him flat. The two scuffled on the floor, and Aaron felt the bull press something hard and cold against his face and tightness around his throat. By the time Aaron managed to regain himself, the bull jumped off his chest and sprinted off at a speed surprising for an animal of his size, accompanied by a pig.

Aaron went to run after them yelling death threats, but realized suddenly he could not open his mouth. He patted the area around his muzzle with both paws and felt a hard grid. Not fully understanding what had just happened he followed the contours from the caging around his mouth and nose. The frame was attached to a set of three leather straps which came to a vertex at a point on the back of his head, clasped with what felt like a circular metallic lock. He'd been muzzled. He pulled at the straps, trying to get them to come undone, and when that failed he tried to pull them over the top of his head. The headbands were fastened too tightly though, and what was more they were secured by a fourth linkage that connected to a collar wrapped snugly around his throat, preventing him from simply lifting the straps over his ears. He was going to need to unlock the collar and muzzle first.

There were footsteps in the hall again. Aaron saw a tiger walking toward him in a black knit shirt: Evan. Aaron ran up to him and got his attention. Evan had that warm, friendly smile that he always seemed to be wearing, and laughed mildly when he saw Aaron's predicament.

"So, they got you with the 'muzzle test' I see." He said pleasantly. Noting the disgruntled expression Aaron had he controlled his sense of humor. "Yeah, it's kind of a hazing ritual and test all in one. They do it to one recruit every cycle. Almost always predators." He said, sympathizing with the problem.

Aaron made a noise through his sealed lips. The top bar to the muzzle pressed down so firmly he couldn't open his mouth even if he had to. He gestured instead, pointing at the locks on the back and making a key turning motion with his paw.

"Ah yeah." Evan looked embarrassed. "Here's the thing: Even if I did have a key, which I don't, I can't help you. It's a test too, like I said. What would you do if someone came up and snapped one of those on you on the street? It does happen from time to time. You'll have to be inventive to figure your way out of that one. Really sorry about that. I'm just here to check on the hybrid program." I hear you're doing well though!" Evan apologized then turned and started walking away, avoiding the angered lion.

Aaron made a low growling noise through his clamped teeth. The muzzle dug into the bridge of his nose harshly and he made another attempts to rip it off. When that failed, he ran after Evan. Catching up to him, he picked a small note pad from Evans shirt pocket and wrote on it rapidly.

' _Capt. I have class in five minutes. I need to get this off. If I have to remove this thing myself, nobody is going to be happy afterwards'_ He handed the note over, and Evan read it, again looking away from Aaron.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I can't do that for you. I understand from the instructors that the other cadets have been picking on you a bit, but this one is kind of a tradition. You'll have to figure it out." He turned and walked quickly away from Aaron, who crumpled the note up, and felt that he would catch fire from rage.

_Nine more days._ Aaron thought. _Just nine more days till I'm finished._

He walked into the classroom a moment later, still orally contained. He was the last one in and everyone was already seated, lively chatter going on all around before the start of the session. There was a momentary pause as every single pair of eyes turned to look at Aaron, then came the expected laughter and hooting.

"Aw, awesome. They finally got someone!" He head one voice yell as he walked to an open desk, glaring hotly at anyone who dared make eye contact with him. He could have slapped their smug grins off their faces right there. He did not at any point see the bull and hog that had trapped him among the attendees.

"Just want you to know, I was really rooting for you to be the one that got this." That damn capybara again.

The lecturer came in followed by a badger in a business dress. He took one look at Aaron and set his notes down. "So, I guess we won't be hearing much from you?" He said with a smirk. A few muffled snickers. "Okay everyone. This is Dr. Madge Honey-Badger from the university. We've invited her to discuss injuries and first aid for law enforcement. I'd ask if you are already an expert on this, Ledbetter but you seem quiet today."

* * *

Aaron left class more quickly than usual, still locked and collared tight. He had about an hour while everyone else ate lunch to try to work his way out of this mess. Looking in the mirror in the barracks male's restroom; he extended a claw, fitting it into the lock on the front of the collar section. He could feel the tumblers but with his lack of knowledge on lock picking couldn't manipulate it. He tried for several minutes, breaking the tip off his claw in the process. He would have screamed at the mirror if he could. As it was, he could barely make a low moaning sound, and stomped out.

Jogging across the campus, he made his way towards the medical training section of the academy. Students with white shirts and red crosses on the back stared at him as he walked in, but no one dared to speak after seeing his face. Halfway to the simulation labs, with its training dummies that he had spent hours practicing on now, he noticed that the honey badger who had been the police academy's guest speaker for the morning was following him at a distance. He ignored her presence, and sorted through a canvas jump bag on one of the shelves, tossing the unused items on the floor in a fit until he found what he was looking for: A set of heavy duty trauma shears, designed for cutting thick clothing, seatbelts and straps.

He jammed the blade into the collar around his neck, ignoring the choking sensation from the tension and began opening and closing the blades with as much power as he could. In his current bout of anger and embarrassment it was a lot of force. Eventually, the leather strap severed and he began working at the head straps.

"Well, look at you now." A voice said gently behind him. "Would you like some help?"

Aaron paused from his work and turned to see Dr. Madge in the doorway a few feet behind him. She looked nervous, claws pulled up to her chest and guarding herself. "I remember you from before. You were at the hospital, after the portals."

Aaron ignored her offer for an assist, and doubled his energy into cutting the strap. The band running around the side below his left ear gave way, and he ripped the muzzle from his face with an enraged roar, throwing the muzzle at the far wall so hard it left a mark.

He turned back with fire in his eyes to Dr. Madge, who had shrunk from the display of primal fury. He exhaled through his nose in a sharp huff and relaxed slightly. "Yeah, I remember you too. You were the one that ordered all the blood tests and tissue samples. I think I still have track marks from all the lab work." He commented bitterly. "You wanted something?"

"I was just seeing how far you'd come. You've changed." She said, looking the tawny, muscled lion up and down. "I wanted to ask you some questions, a favor maybe."

Aaron pushed past Dr. Madge, almost knocking her backwards with his leg. "I've got forty-five minutes till my next session starts. Walk and talk."

They walked to the gym in silence, which was empty at the time. Aaron walked over to a claw bag and bounced on his toes, fists up. The claw bags were weighted cylindrical sacks nearly identical to the punching bags beside them but designed for the large cats that seemed to be a frequent type in the law enforcement community. Instead of the plasticized nylon, they had been wrapped tightly in a dense fiber rope, giving something that felines, bears and other large, sharp-taloned animals could dig their claws into. With a yell, Aaron punched the bag so hard it made his fist hurt. He followed it with several more strikes, picturing faces on it.

"I remember when you were in the hospital. You couldn't even say your name for the first few days. It took you over a week to speak normally to the medical staff and even then you were convinced you were hallucinating. Now look at you, graduating from the academy." Madge yelled over the phonations that Aaron made as he attacked the trainer bag with all his might.

Aaron extended his claws and dug them into the rope shielding, raking downward with a tearing noise. "None of this is a question. If you came just to give me lip service you're wasting your time and mine." He said, not stopping in his aggressions.

"I want to know about what happened. About the portals, and the days following. About before." She yelled over the sound of Aaron working his anger out.

"Why don't you talk to any of the other refugees? Last I heard there were hundreds of us. Why come and bother me just before I take board exams? Why come and hang out here after I get humiliated by my own peers!" He screamed at the bag, punching it with a closed fist hard enough to make it swing back in to the limits of its chain. The bag crashed back into him and he bear hugged in, slicing his claws down. He relaxed his fists. Spots of blood welled up from his paw pads where he had dug into them with his own nails.

"I did. I tried to." Madge looked scared now. She wasn't used to seeing such a level of unrestrained aggression from a predator and it reminded her of the behavior she had seen with animals that had been afflicted with Nighthowler serum poisoning. "Most of them won't talk to me, or don't remember. The few who do didn't have anything that pointed me in the right direction. They were at home or at work when it happened, they say. You came along so much quicker. You're more stable, more mentally put together. You're smarter. You're different."

Aaron relaxed from his stance and panted, feeling the heat bleed off him in his breathing. "No, I'm not different or smarter or anything like that. I just adapted quicker." He took a gulp of water from the nearby fountain and splashed some on his face. It didn't help with all the fur, but the habit was ingrained. "I adapted because I had to. Look, I've had a whole life and career before I came here to get used to horrible, fantastic shit happening to me. Is war something you have here? Do you all fight each other over pointless crap? Kill one another because you think or look or act differently? Because from what I'm seeing from the other recruits here, you all are no better than we were as humans. Maybe it comes with evolution."

"Yes, maybe. Yes to all of that." Madge assured Aaron quickly. "That's what I want to know. What was your world like? How are we so different and so similar? You picked up the science of things so well. They told me you used to be a nurse. We have those here too. You've seen how medicine works. I've heard you know how to treat injuries like it was second nature and you haven't even finished training yet."

Aaron sighed. "Maybe I can help you Now isn't the time though. My question to you is: Why do you want to know so badly?"

Madge looked up at Aaron sincerely. Her dark brown eyes reflected the room. "Because at this point in my career, it's all I have left."


	11. Success Is Not Final

Graduation day had arrived at last. The parade grounds at the Public Safety Academy were transformed for the ceremony. A modular stage was placed in the center of the field with a podium at the middle. Rows of folding plastic chairs were arranged for family and visitors. There was a buzz of activity as police, firefighters and medics mingled with graduates.

Off to the side of the group, in another section of chairs meant for the graduating classes, Aaron paced restlessly, looking at the crowds of happy animals and then back at the ground again. He was outfitted in dress blues for the police department and fidgeted with his tie. There had been significant background debate over whom Aaron was going to graduate with, and Aaron had felt it had come down between the leadership over who had to claim ownership of his academics. ZPD had drawn the short straw given that he would work as a member of the police department.

"You don't think they're coming, do you?" Aaron said, stopping his pacing long enough to look at Nick who was sitting cross legged in a chair reserved for the students.

Nick looked around the growing crowd. "I don't know. I made sure they all got the invitation like you asked. Even your sour deer friend." He said.

Aaron kicked a small pebble and watched it bounce across the grass. "I figured Randall wouldn't come. He didn't support me doing this. I figured that Shaena would come at least. I bet he talked her out of it."

"Hey, we came." Nick said, trying to kick the lion out of his funk.

"You didn't have a choice." Aaron pointed out.

Nick frowned. Technically Aaron was correct. Judy had specifically requested they be on the graduation ceremony duty with the contingent of police, fire and EMS officials that would be presenting badges. Pointing this fact out to him wasn't going to cheer Aaron up, though.

"Well, at least you made it successfully." Nick said.

"That's never the end of the challenges." Aaron replied.

"Carrots has something for you by the way." Nick said, trying to divert the conversation.

"What's that?" Aaron asked, curiosity piqued.

"Ah-ah. You'll have to wait for the ceremony to find out. Now make yourself look sharp. You've got media attention." Both of them looked to the front row of audience chairs where a couple of local news crews were setting up. A giraffe with a camera was pointing towards Aaron and Nick.

"It's going to be great. Think about it; the first of the Portal Refugees to join ZPD. They're gonna eat this story up. Just remember: If they ask you any questions, answer with a question and try not to start a species war." Nick had told Aaron about the Bellwether Incident, and after time it seemed to be something he could laugh about. Aaron wasn't sure Judy felt the same way.

His classmates were beginning to take their seats around him, and Aaron went to join them. Up on stage, Mayor Lionheart was directing an assistant with getting his notes in order. He was huge for a lion and dwarfed Aaron who wasn't particularly short for his size class himself. The mayor had been acquitted of charges after the problems of two years ago and had taken back his office from the interim mayor after what he called "a horrible misunderstanding."

Aaron worked his way through the rows of chairs and found an open one. Going to sit down, the okapi from the academy held an arm out, blocking the seat.

"That one's saved." He said. Aaron moved down a chair.

"That one is too. In fact, this whole row is saved. Better find somewhere else." He said with an infuriating grin. Aaron gave him a scowl and a silent prayer that he'd end up at a different precinct from himself. He proceeded to the far back corner, near the EMS class and sunk down into the open slot. He looked once more over the civilians in attendance. Nobody he recognized.

The mayor began his speech. It was like any political talk Aaron had ever been present for, thinly veiled words of pride and accomplishment to cover over a deeper connotation of self-promotion and how it made him a better leader than any potential competition. Aaron feigned attention with his ridged posture, aware that the news crews were panning over the students from time to time, pausing to aim at him. They filmed beaming faces excited at the triumph of what they had done.

Aaron thought back to his previous life. Graduating from boot camp with the Army, his parents and sister cheering from the bleachers. Pinning ceremony at nursing school where the class valedictorian had made a moving speech calling nursing 'the finest of the arts' in a dimly lit gymnasium illuminated only by flames from the traditional oil lamps the students held. The after- party that had followed had closed down the bar by the college.

Badge presentation followed the opening speech. The police department came first; shiny starred police badged pinned to the uniform breasts by members of the department while Lion heart read off names in a rich, booming voice. When the 'L's' came, Aaron was not called up. He had a moment of concern but rationalized that would be walking with the EMS candidates since he was working for the police as a medical provider. He caught furtive glances from the rest of the police graduates, but maintained his ever-serious composure.

' _Never let 'em see you sweat'._ He reminded himself.

Next up was the fire department, the city fire marshal passing out badges to black and red uniformed new firefighters. The address was finalized by a loud blast from the air horn of the ladder truck that was parked off near the grounds, drawing a cheer from onlookers.

At last it was time for the medics. The Zootopia Medical Center's Chief of Medicine gave a speech about how the newly graduated were the protectors of life for all animals in the city. Medics from the city's ambulance service pinned badges and armbands to their new members who looked over the moon with relief and joy. Again, Aaron was skipped over.

A row in front of him, Ralston, the wild dog from the police academy Aaron had shared a bunk with turned and gave Aaron a toothy grin, punching him in the knee.

"Oops. They never called you. Guess you didn't graduate."

Aaron grabbed him by the wrist tighter than needed and let the tips of his claws dig into Ralston's arm a bit.

"Oops. I already passed the board exams. Both of them. I'm already certified the same as everyone else. Doesn't matter if they call me or not." Out across the way he could see Judy and Aaron whispering to each other and exchanging nervous looks. He boiled internally. Regardless of what he said, it did bother him greatly. He could deal with the shade from his classmates, but being slighted by the entire city at a public event seemed like an unfair turn.

Mayor Lionheart stepped up to the podium again presumably to give a farewell address. The audience quieted and as everyone sat down Aaron thought he saw a flash of black fur near the back of the field.

"At this time, we all remember the portal storms of not even six months ago," he said in a quieter, more serious tone, the 'vote-for me' tone gone from his voice. "Its horrifying occurrence left the city in fear and damaged." Aaron saw a number of former students turn and glare at him, like the whole event had been his fault.

"I am proud, however of how our community came together." Lionheart continued. "We have rebuilt, we have recovered and we have worked together to welcome the refugees as our own. It is through this that we show them that in Zootopia, anyone can be anything. With that said, we have one more mammal to welcome to the ranks of public safety. Captain Tekari and Chief Bogo, if you would please come up here?"

Evan and the Chief stood up and came to center stage. "Thank you mister mayor. I would first like to offer an apology for what may have seemed like an oversight. In discussion with the chief we felt that this deserved special attention. We at the Zootopia Police Department would like to introduce the first Portal Refugee to join the department, under the banner of the Special Tactics division, and the department's first ever tactical response medic: Aaron Ledbetter. Can we have you come up with us please Mr. Ledbetter?" Evan stepped to the side and Aaron rose, giving Ralston a hard squeeze on the shoulder. He thought he saw Ralston mouth 'attention whore' at him as he walked out and stepped on stage.

"Ledbetter brings with him a wealth of clinical and tactical knowledge from his homeworld and holds the special honor of being the first of his kind to join us both professionally and culturally. Officer Judy Hoops, would you please present Officer Ledbetter with his badge?"

Judy got up from the front row and there was applause from all but a few of the newly indoctrinated students and one member of the audience.

A grey wolf sat in the front row, a distance from Judy and Nick. He had a black saddle pattern to his back fur and was dressed out of place compared to those around him, wearing a pair of torn jeans and a white tank-top. He was hunched down in his seat, and staring at Aaron, his lips curled up to show his teeth. Aaron looked back and tried to place the wolf, but couldn't remember where he'd seen him before.

Judy arrived in front of Aaron and the news crews focused on them both. Nick hollered loudly, making as much of a scene as he could. Aaron gave him a quick smile and kneeled to get on level with Judy.

She opened a small dark wooden box to present a polished brass badge. It was decorated with the typical ZPD star logo, and embossed in the middle of the star was a cross. 'Police Medic' was written below the star and the number 127 at the plate below that. Aaron smiled brightly, self-consciously aware that he was being filmed as Judy pinned the badge to his chest.

"Ready to make the world a better place?" She asked.

Aaron smiled. "At least a safer and healthier one." He told her and stood up.

Evan walked over to him and laughed lightly. "You're on my team now. Better make sure that badge is on tight." He drew back and punched Aaron in the chest right on top of the badge. Aaron coughed and took a step back but kept his footing.

"Yes sir, it's secure." He coughed and shook hands with Evan.

A donkey with a press badge stood up. "Do you think we could get a few words from you Officer Ledbetter?" Next to him, the wolf continued to glower like Aaron had stolen his lunch.

"Other than 'Ow, my chest'? Yes, sure."

The press members all spoke at once and several microphones were jabbed at him. He could only pick out one of the questions.

"What are my thoughts on joining ZPD?" Aaron looked back at the chief who motioned for him to get on with it.

"I'm very honored to have the opportunity to serve this city and for the trust placed in my by the chief and Captain Tekari. I'm sure I speak for all the refugees when I say we are grateful for the assistance provided to us by the City of Zootopia."

Questions shot off again for information about the other refugees, about where he came from. He ignored all but the last one, "What do you intend to do first as the tactical medic for the police?"

"I plan on going home and sleeping for the next month."

* * *

Aaron milled around the reception following the ceremony, looking through a dense crowd. Hunting through clumps of animals helping themselves to light food and beverages, he was beginning to wonder if he'd just imagined the black fur from up on stage. He was just about to give up and suggest to Nick ditching the party and finding a local bar when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"You know, there's half a pride of lions out here. You blend in well." Came the smooth voice from behind him. Aaron turned to look into emerald green eyes contrasting midnight black fur.

"You did come!" Aaron embraced Shaena, feeling incredible relief."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." She said, burying her head in his chest. "Train broke down half way here. We had to walk the rest of the way."

"'We?'" Asked Aaron.

"Randall and Mary are off getting drinks." She raised an arm and waved. Randall and his mate appeared a second later, holding plastic cups filled with a pinkish liquid. He handed one to Aaron.

"So, a toast to our now famous enforcer of animal justice. Whatever that means." Randall said, holding his cup aloft.

"I'm more like a medic with some additional privileges to stop you if you cause too much trouble" Aaron said, grinning.

"Does this make you more like a doctor or a veterinarian, you think?" Mary joked with him. Aaron paused, glass at his lips and thought.

"Ahh, go ahead and drink up before you hurt your brain." Randall said, taking a long drink of his beverage. Aaron shrugged and drank from the cup, nearly spitting the mouthful on Mary's dress. It was heavy with alcohol.

"Phew. What did you put in this?" Aaron sputtered.

Randall reached in his pocket and pulled a small flask out. "Dunno. Picked it up from a store on the walk out here. It's either vodka or jet fuel. Not sure which yet." He said, finishing his drink.

"Wow. That's the stuff there." Aaron said, feeling the booze work its way to his head in seconds flat. "So, did Farr come too?" He looked for the ibex with the broken horn.

"He didn't come. He hasn't been doing well." Mary said, a soft, sad look on her face.

"Yeah, he's…"Randall made a waving gesture at his own head.

"He started hanging out with some other animals he met. I don't know if they're refugees or what. I think they're making him worse." Mary said.

"Alright. I'll go talk to him once I get settled with work. Did they ever figure out what was going on with the missing ones?" Aaron asked.

"No. We don't know shit yet." Randall said, favoring a cluster of police officers with a hostile glare.

"Your friends have been trying to help, but they don't have a lot to work with, and haven't made much progress." Mary said, soothing Randall. Aaron made a grumbling sound. He was going to be busy and he hadn't even started work yet.

Nick trotted over with a plate of food, Judy close behind him.

"So. Officer Ledbetter. That's really got a ring to it." Nick said, offering up a small sandwhich about the size of his paw.

"I'm good, thanks." Aaron waved him off. The conversation and alcohol had turned his appetite.

"Suit yourself." Nick said, tossing the sandwich up into the air and catching it in his mouth.

"I used to have a dog that could do that trick." Commented Randall to Nick.

Nick looked at him through his sunglasses. "You really know how to keep the conversation light, don't you?"

Aaron took another look around at the clumps of partiers.

"Looking for someone?" Judy asked, following Aaron's gaze.

"There was some wolf mean-mugging me when we were on stage. Looked familiar, but I can't think of from where.

"Eh, everyone has an attitude these days. You ready to head out big guy? Gotta get you ready for the work week." Nick pointed to the gates of the Public Safety Academy. It felt like ages since Aaron had walked through them.

"Yeah, let's roll. Walk back with me Shay?" He said, putting an arm around her waist.

"I think that would be fine." She said softly. She gave a wink to Randall and Mary and the two walked out the academy gates.

* * *

**Three Days Later**

Aaron walked into the locker room holding a note card with a series of numbers written on it. He found the locker assigned to him from the paper and spun the combination lock on the door. As he dialed in the last digit he was pushed out of the way by a large warthog roughly two thirds his height and what looked like twice his weight.

"Move it fuzzy. You're in my way." The warthog ordered, without making eye contact.

"Well, pardon me there ham hock." Aaron said sourly, already annoyed at the reception on his first day on the job. At his response, the locker room fell silent. A pin drop would have been deafening.

"What did you just call me?" The warthog spun on Aaron with fire in his eyes. He was holding a vest with SWAT written on the back panel. "The name is Raz, and I'm the squad leader here. If you know what's good for you, you'll remember that. You do what I say, got it?" He slammed the door shut, making sure to 'accidently' ram Aaron again and pulled on a set of shoulder pads over his vest.

"Hey, cut him some slack. It's his first day." Said another lion from the back of the locker room, dressing in his riot gear.

"I know that. I saw him at the graduation. He's one of Hopps' recruits"

A polar bear behind Aaron made a hacking sound like he was going to spit a snot wad on Aaron. "We gotta stop her from suggesting hires to the chief. Last one she brought in was that shifty-ass fox, Wilde. Keep getting crap recruits. It's going to being the whole department down.

Aaron buttoned his new uniform short with its fresh creases and grabbed his vest. "Well, I can see I'm going to get along great with everyone. I'm the new tactical medic."

"I said I know who you are. Listen, we don't need a medic on the team, and we especially don't need one of you invaders with us. We can take care of our own." Raz poked Aaron in the gut with a pen.

Aaron gave a bitter smile to Raz. "Last I heard, you had a pair of officers out long term that would disagree with that statement."

Raz lifted a hoof up and brought it down hard on Aaron's foot. Aaron snarled and struggled to regain his composure.

"You watch your damn mouth!" Raz shouted. He looked around him. All eyes were watching the exchange. "Get your gear everyone. Briefing is in five." He stomped out of the locker room with the others, leaving Aaron and the other lion.

"Let me guess: He's great once you get to know him, right?"

"No, not really." Said the lion, and left the room leaving Aaron alone.

* * *

The bullpen was raucous as usual, loud talking and physical displays of power throughout the desks. If there was any more testosterone in the room, it would have washed them out the door. Aaron found a place in the very rear of the room next to a female leopard and two wolves all wearing SWAT gear like him. Up in the front row, Judy and Nick were sharing a chair much bigger than them both. He felt like he stood out like a sore thumb in his gear. His red cross armband on his left bicep drew attention, and unlike the rest of the SWAT officers, his vest was stenciled with "Police Medic" in bright yellow letters. Nobody spoke to him.

Higgins, a large hippo with sergeant stripes blew a whistle hung around his neck and called the room to order as Chief Bogo walked into the room with stacks of folders.

"Alright, let's get to business. We have a lot of work today and I want everyone out in the field as soon as possible. We have one new recruit with us this morning. I'd introduce him but…"

"You don't care!" shouted everyone in the bullpen at once, laughing.

"Exactly. Now, assignments:" Bogo went through passing out case folders and rotations to the regular teams. "Hopps, Wilde: Get back to the missing refugee case and report to me. Ringgold, Zilna, Bhara and Bradley: Head for Sahara Square, we have reports of a long standoff in sector two and they might need SWAT backup."

"Raz, Newbark, Lyssa: go to Sun Stadium and meet the Captain there to get ready for the event coming up." Raz got up, accompanied by a pair of wolves with contrasting white and dark grey coats. Lyssa pulled an armadillo in heavy armor from a chair on the side of the room. "Frag, you come with us, we need your expertise"

Aaron still stood at the back of the room, wondering what hellhole he was going to get sent off to.

"Finally, Ledbetter. You're staying here." Bogo looked Aaron in the face with a hard state and groaned. "Do you have anything you feel you need to say before we adjourn?"

Aaron took a step forward. "Just be careful out there everyone, and don't do anything that's going to make me the last face you ever see." He advised as the others came up front to grab red folders.

"I'll take my own life before I let that happen." Raz said, pointing at Aaron and leaving the room with the three other members of his team.

* * *

Aaron sat in the offices area of the department, typing away on a laptop. He hadn't been assigned any real workspace yet so he was limited in his ability to get work done. He'd also been restricted to the first precinct building so aside from drilling with SWAT, and trying to burn time until his shift ended, he was dangerously bored.

He sat reviewing injury files for employees and looking for patterns he could address when Evan padded into the room, stopping at his corner table where he worked.

"How's your first week going so far?" Evan said, offering Aaron a styrofoam cup of coffee. Aaron took it and looked up at the tiger over him.

"With all due respect sir, so slow I'm not entirely sure why you pushed for me to get this job in the first place." He sighed.

"Well, come on. I have a surprise for you." Evan waved for Aaron to follow. Aaron stayed in place, standing beside the laptop.

"Something wrong?" Asked Evan, giving him a questioning look.

"Last time someone said they 'had a surprise for me' I got duct taped to a sign post by a major freeway."

Evan scoffed. "Come on Aaron. You know me better than that. I'm not out to get you."

Aaron relented and followed Evan through the hallways of the building till they came to a door near the offices for the SWAT division. He opened the plain, unlabeled door and motioned Aaron forward.

"Ta-da!" He exclaimed.

Aaron paused. The room was empty. Bare tile floors were lit by fluorescent lights in the windowless room, and the walls were painted interior brick. The whole room was about the size of the bedroom back at the apartment, assuming it had no furniture. He was mystified at why Evan was so excited to show him this.

"You want me to clean it or something, Captain?" He asked.

"No! It's yours. Look, it was a storage room that nobody was using for anything so I got the Chief to re-designate it. It's going to be your office. You can set it up as a med bay for the department."

Aaron smiled widely at the implication. He hadn't had a workspace he could call his own yet in his career. Even the med bay at Fort Benning had been the property of him and all the rest of the Project Babel medical staff.

"Well, what can I say? Thank you. I can make this work with some furniture."

Evan handed Aaron a set of sheets of stapled papers. "Give me a list of everything you would need for a fully functional treatment bay. I'll make sure you get the budget for it.

Aaron nodded and looked over the papers, filling in boxes and blanks. "I'll see it done."

* * *

**One Week Later**

"I've completed all the checks that you wanted done Chief." Aaron stood in Bogo's office, a folder open on his desk. Bogo took a moment to leaf through the contents of it, and looked at his computer.

"And blew the budget for the department at the same time I see." He looked down at Aaron, his typical frown on his face.

"Outfitting a miniature hospital and field gear kit is expensive sir." Aaron said, defending the purchase decisions that he had made. Evan had seen all the requests go through, and Aaron now had the new med room up and ready to go. He'd gotten a desk, a stretcher, a collection of what he felt were necessary drugs, and a fully equipped jump bag for his use in the field. It contained a full collection of trauma care gear to cover common and severe injury among the other officers.

"Have you put any of this material to good use at least?" Bogo looked again at the computer and his stomach dropped, looking at the price tag that had come from the new medic.

"Well, as I've said: I've gotten the entire first precinct checked over with physicals like you asked me to. I can start on the other precincts over the coming weeks."

"What have you found out?" Bogo leaned over his desk to stare Aaron down.

Aaron sorted through the papers on the desk, pointing to marks on the pages. "Most of the department meets the outlined basic physical requirements for field duty. There are a few notable exceptions that I'll go through later but that can be worked on. SWAT team is in better shape than others as I'd expect. Oh, and half the department has high blood pressure." Aaron gave the chief a pointed look when he said this.

There was a knock at the door, and it opened without waiting for a response. Nick entered, followed by Judy.

"Aaron!" Nick said walking up next to him. "How's life treating you? Getting check-ups done?"

"We were just discussing that." Aaron looked over his shoulder at the chief.

"You two wanted something?" Bogo interrupted the conversation to get back to work.

"Yes." Judy said firmly, stepping forward. "We've been looking into this missing refugee case all week and aren't making a lot of progress. We just went back to the hospital and got a list of where the missing mammals we got reports for and where they were put up after discharge, but without having anyone to talk to we're getting a dry hole. I need more resources, and maybe more officers to help us."

"I understand what you are asking for Hopps, but this is not a high-priority case. A bunch of missing animals that we can't even prove are missing for some sinister reason and have no one actively searching for them isn't a focus for the force. I can't devote any more officers to this. Everyone is busy."

"But sir—" Judy started to protest but Aaron cut her off.

"May I interject an opinion here?" He said, looking at the others.

"If you feel you must." Grumbled Bogo.

"No one is searching for them because they expect us to do that. It's the job of the police to do the investigating, not just tell the rest of us that it's our problem. If we don't care here, it doesn't matter what they do; they'll never be located."

"Are you telling me what my departments job is, Ledbetter?" Bogo gave Aaron a hot stare.

"Not at all chief. I'm just saying that I've cautioned some friends of mine against vigilante style justice. I'm trying to help make it easier for your people to do their job without being interfered with. If we are not going to do something about it, then there is no point in me trying to defer them. We aren't just something that's going to vanish into space again. We're here, and that means the refugees are the collective responsibility of the community, and the police as well." Aaron spoke emphatically in front of the chief for once. He refused to let the missing simply be ignored.

"Careful. You're starting to sound like Carrots here." Nick said, half-joking.

"Well, maybe someone needed to say it than." Aaron said firmly.

"I suppose you have some sort of miracle cure for this situation?" Bogo eyed Aaron.

Aaron took the case folder from Judy and thumbed through it, going down the list of the missing that had managed to be reported. "I know at least one of these names. Maybe more. I also know what happened to her after she got released. I'll come help you." He offered.

"I'd like to remind you that you are a medic, not a detective. You don't investigate cases." Bogo informed Aaron.

"Well, that's fine chief. I can go with them and provide 'medical backup' to ensure their safety. Of course, if you'd like I can stay here and check your blood pressure two or three more times today. You know stress is bad for those numbers, right?"

Bogo made a low sound that suggested to Aaron his blood pressure was rising quickly. "Get out of here, and get me some results."

* * *

Out in the cruiser paddock Aaron, Judy and Nick walked through the rows of cruisers. "So, where are we going, or were you just smoke screening Chief Buffalo back there?" Nick asked as they walked. Aaron pulled out his phone and looked at it.

"Nope. Shay just texted me back. I know where to go." He said, smiling. It felt great to get out of the dimly lit offices at the precinct for a while and stretch his legs.

"That's great! Where are we going? I'll drive." Judy faced Aaron and Nick, jumping backwards while she talked.

"Uhh, we can't take your cruiser. We'd never fit Aaron in it. Smallest one we can fit him in is over there and you won't be able to reach the pedels." Nick said, reminding Judy of the size differences. "I'll drive us."

"But I want to drive."

"For the love of…I'll drive" Aaron said, frustrated. Judy and Nick turned to him, surprised.

"Do you know how to?" Nick asked.

"Of course I do. I'm not that backwards. Now get in." He opened the door to a police car and helped Judy in.

"Now, just someone give me directions." He said.

They drove through the city, Judy reading turns off to Aaron who drove with a level of aggression and precision she wasn't used to except when on the chase. After twenty minutes, they arrived at a multi-story townhome with dulled wood siding. All three of them got out of the car and Nick knocked at the door. It was answered by an elderly looking antelope.

"Good morning ma'am. I'm Officer Wilde with ZPD. These are some associates of mine. Could we speak to you for a moment?" He asked politely. The antelope opened the door and motioned them inside.

"Of course dear. What can I do for you?" She replied, closing the door behind them. The public housing unit was run down on the interior, its old charm washed away by too many years of mammals down on their luck coming in and out.

"You took in a set of refugees following the Portal Storms, yes? We're looking for a few of them." Nick continued, looking around the interior. A small kitchen was on the first floor and a staircase with worn bannister ran up the right side wall.

"Oh yes. I was asked if I could put some of them up by the city a while ago. Of course I said yes to them. They offered to pay me a little. I'm just happy to help those poor souls. There are still some here. Have they done something wrong?" the antelope landlady looked up the staircase, sounding concerned.

"We don't think so. A few friends of mine live here, and they mentioned that they hadn't heard from some of them in a while. We just want to make sure they're safe." Aaron spoke up, reassuring her.

"Oh, you know some of them? Hmm, I think one of them mentioned being friends with a lion that fell out with them. Is that you dear?" She said. She was slow and kind, and reminded Aaron of his grandmother.

"Yes ma'am. I'm Aaron Ledbetter. You must know my friend, Shay Burns and the Stones, Randall and Mary."

"Oh yes, I know them. They have rooms upstairs. Shay is such a nice girl. Randall and Mary; what an interesting couple. They've been here for months. This isn't about them is it?"

"No." Judy interjected, looking through the case folder with the list of names. "We're looking for a spotted hyena going by the name of Hanna, and maybe…" She sorted through the list of names with Aaron looking over her shoulder.

"That one." Aaron pointed to a name half way down the list. "Jeremy Haynes."

"Oh yes. Mr. Haynes, the porcupine. He was such a nice fellow. Very smart, liked to tinker with things. He fixed my radio and television." The landlady said, smiling fondly. "They left months ago though."

"Well, we've had some backups with work." Nick made an excuse for the protracted investigation.

"Did you ever have any problems with them?" Judy asked. "They got reported missing from here and nobody is heard from them since.

"No. Never." The antelope shook her head. "Hanna was an odd girl. Never seemed to quite fit in with the others."

"It's been hard for some of us to adjust." Aaron admitted. "Could we see where they were staying? We just want to make sure they are safe."

"Oh yes, certainly. You seem to have done very well for yourself." She commented to Aaron, leading them up the stairs. Two bare rooms were next to each other, the only furnishings an empty bookshelf and stripped bed. Nick and Judy searched around the rooms, finding nothing that even suggested something violent had occurred. If they were kidnapped, it wasn't done here.

"I'm told they just vanished one night?" Aaron asked the antelope.

"That's right. They were here one night and when I woke up in the morning, they were gone. I never even heard them leave. They didn't even have that many things. Just a suitcase each."

"Were they talking to anyone? Going anywhere during the day?" Judy asked, coming from the room, and writing on her notepad.

"Well, there was this one wolf that came by a few times to see them both. I don't quite remember his name, but I'm sure he told me. I didn't trust him." The landlady whispered like she was afraid the walls would hear her.

Judy and Nick exchanged looks, and Aaron was deep in thought.

"Was there anywhere either of them liked to go during the day?" Judy asked finally.

"Well, Jeremy starting going out to see that wolf more and more. There was one place Hanna liked to go. It was some club downtown. It was called the Mythic Springs Oasis."

* * *

The afternoon sun bore was shining down over the open air courtyard of the Mythic Springs, sparkling off the large pool in the middle of the grass and rock landscaping. Aaron shifted uncomfortably in his gear. The bodysuit and vest, combined with his coat made him feel hotter than he remembered being in a long time. It had been a while since he had worn armor, and he struggled to control himself from panting. The ocelot he was talking to wasn't helping him feel more relaxed by a long shot.

"I swear to whatever you animals call holy: if you don't stop licking your asshole while I'm talking to you I'm going to go and get a prescription for you for a fifty gallon drum of hemorrhoid ointment, come back here and shove the whole thing up your—"

"Hey! I told you what I know already. You come in here and ruin my good vibe with your questions. I never saw her." The medium sized cat stopped his grooming routine from the couch he lounged on to snap back at Aaron

"And I've got three others here who said you were talking to her, and two wolves. Stop feeding me a line." Aaron said. His frustration both at the conversation and the warmth was making him short tempered.

"That was like, months ago. I barely remember what I had for dinner last night."

Aaron bristled. "Judging by your actions here, I'd guess you stayed home and ate your—" Aaron was interrupted by a sharp whistle from behind him. He looked over and could see Nick standing beside a bush. He realized he could see all of him, in fact. Giving a look that said 'I'll be back for you' to the ocelot, he walked over to Nick was standing.

"Why are you naked?!" Aaron hissed to Nick, standing over him.

"I told you I was going to go blend in and see what I could find out." He defended himself with a smirk.

"I didn't think this was what you meant by blending in." Aaron said.

"Hey, let me remind you that you and Judy are the only two here who are standing out. Besides, you said when we first got here that this seemed 'more natural' to you. You weren't used to seeing animals wearing clothes."

"I take back all I said about that. Every word." Aaron retorted, regretting what he'd said on their arrival. Judy had spent most of their visit to the Springs near the antechamber to the main courtyard not moving and trying to avoid getting an eyeful of more than she wanted to. She now stood under a palm tree watching Nick and Aaron talking. Her expression had gone from one of so embarrassed she looked like she'd collapse, to one of horror. She pulled her ears down around the bottom of her gaping jaw watching the conversation.

"I came to tell you I found something out." Nick smoothed down his chest fur, looking satisfied with himself. "So, a few others here said they remember seeing a spotted hyena come here regularly. She was meeting with some wolves. They said there was one that kind of looked different because he never got undressed, just stood around looking angry the whole time. Thing is nobody knew who he was. Never signed in on the roster, just came and went with Hanna."

"Yeah, I got that part from him." Aaron indicated the ocelot who had gone back to lazily bathing himself. "Anyone describe him to you?"

"Grey and black. Maybe five and a half feet tall. Middle aged, and a sloppy dresser."

Aaron thought for a moment, searching his memory from where that sounded familiar. There were so many canids in the city he really only had coat appearances to go off. He crouched down next to Nick, putting an arm around his shoulders.

"Okay, I can work with that maybe. It's something. I'm going to ask you a huge favor; as my senior officer, as my mentor and as someone I have to live with."

"What's that?" Nick gave Aaron a wide smile, teeth bright in the sunlight.

"Unless I am giving you a physical at the med room back at the station; never get undressed in front of me at work again." Aaron had decided that between this place and doing physicals on every employee at the station over the last week, he'd seen more than he needed to of his co-workers for a while. "Now let's go get Judy before she has a heart attack."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes from Reality
> 
> Sometimes the phrase "Everything is going to be alright" is the worst white lie in the world.
> 
> Over the course of writing this Chapter of Anatopism I found myself traveling back home to be with my mother who has been very sick. I had an almost 850 mile drive each way to do with nobody with me and my dog in the back seat to keep me company. I came to the conclusion that things aren't always alright, and all I could do was rely on myself to get through them. As my mother liked to say "c'est la vie." Such is life. All I can do is remind everyone who is reading this: hug your loved ones and pets every so often. You never know when you won't be able to do that again.
> 
> In all the long empty stretches of I-75, I had a lot of time to think about this story and where I'm going with it. The advantage to this was I was able to figure out a huge plot drop-off to continue after the first plot arc ends. I think it's a pretty good idea, and I hope that everyone enjoys it as much as I have in planning it.
> 
> As for Aaron: he has had some hard times, but don't worry about him. "Everything is going to be alright."


	12. Wired to the Radio

**Two Weeks Later**

Evan strode into the locker rooms. There was a flurry of activity in the cramped space, the members of the SWAT team dressing hurriedly in their gear. "Alright everyone, get ready double-time then report to the briefing room. We have to move!" he shouted.

Aaron zipped up the flexible bodysuit that served as the base to his riot gear and fixed a set of knee and shoulder pads over the top of his ballistics vest. The last item was a backpack with "Police Medic" written on the back in identical font to his vest which it covered.

"Well, we finally get to break you in, huh?" Bhara said to him as they finished dressing.

"We do this right, you won't need me." Aaron told him, tightening the straps to his pack. The other lion was one of the few that had been at least somewhat friendly with him.

"Things happen. Let's just keep it together and hope we're lucky." The pair of felines zipped up and headed out into the SWAT briefing room where Evan was standing at the front of the room dressed in full riot gear himself. A projector was aimed at the screen behind him, showing a bird's eye view of a stadium, circled and labeled.

"Okay, settle down everyone, we've got work to do."

The Captain slapped the table and drew silence from the room. "Here's the situation: Sun Stadium. A group of radicals have holed up an in the area and have planted explosives around the structure. There has already been one detonation and they are threatening to set off more if their demands are not met. We don't have numbers or positions on all of them yet, but we know they are all armed and dangerous."

Evan flipped slides to show the interior of the stadium. The bullpens were closed off with stacked debris and two mammals with automatic rifles stood outside.

"We have officers on scene already, and have not gotten word on hostages, but this is going to be an epic disaster if we fail to clear this place before the next detonation. Ambulances are in staging outside the safe zone, and can't come in until we sound the all clear. We have Ledbetter with us to provide on-scene medical, but we're going to need to be careful. There's only one of him and a dozen of us, plus other officers, so use extreme caution when in the area.

Raz, Bhara, Ryelle and Newbark, you're sierra team." The warthog got up, followed by Bhara and the light colored wolf. Ryelle, a white rhino thumbed out of the room, ducking under the door after them.

"Ledbetter, you'll move with Sierra team for now. We'll redeploy as we need you. Ringgold and Bradley, take over watch. Once we get the area clear, Frag, you do your magic." Aaron followed the first group over to the armory, escorted by Bradley, the team's sharpshooter.

A few minutes later, Aaron hustled his way to the vehicle paddock, a sidearm and submachine gun that he hoped to not need attached to his gear pack. He boarded in an armored carrier vehicle and Bahra sealed the heavy door behind them.

"Don't you mess this up." Raz cautioned Aaron.

The truck bounced its way down the road on poor suspension, taking turns fast and threatening to pitch Aaron from his seat in back. His radio crackled in time with the others.

"All units, this is the TOC." Said the voice at the Tactical Operations Command, the specialized radio network for SWAT deployments and major disasters. He pronounced the last word in the transmission like the sound a clock would make. "The net is now open, report in sequence."

Raz grabbed the mic off his chest and spoke into it. "TOC, this is sierra one, two, three and four. Permission to enter the net?"

"Permission granted sierra one. Happy hunting."

Ryelle turned wordlessly to Aaron. The rhino sat hunched almost chin to chest, barely fitting into the transport.

"TOC, this is med one. Permission to enter the net?"

"Permission granted, med one. Good luck out there."

Raz spoke up to be heard over the engine noise. "Alright Ledbetter. You stay with us, and do exactly what I say. We clear?" he snapped.

"Absolutely. Just keep yourselves safe out there. I don't want to have to break out the expensive stuff this early in the day." Aaron replied. Raz just grunted, and the crew rode on in silence. Aaron took one last moment to collect his thoughts. He hoped he still had the fight left in him.

* * *

The team huddled crouched under the cement awning that lead to a one of the access tunnels inside the stadium. They looked out onto an open field of artificial turf surrounded by a low concrete wall and seats surrounding the oval field. Steep rows of seats surrounded the entire open air stadium, leaving an open killing field from above in all directions.

"Sierra one for over watch. We're pinned here. You got line of sight on them, Bradley?"

"Negative. No target. Can't see their position." The cheetah replied over the radio from somewhere above them. Ringgold and Bradley were stuck high up in the grandstands, trying to pick out locations of the enemy. It had been a slow advance for both of the assault squads, even with Ringgold and Bradley covering from up above. There were just too many places for the bad guys to hide in the area.

"All teams, this is Sierra actual. Clock is ticking on those explosives. Ten minutes to minimum safe distance," Evan radioed in from somewhere near the perimeter. He and the chief had been coordinating efforts since the run began and they were running out of time. The crews would either have to get to the bombs or be forced to retreat outside before they could be potentially caught in the blast.

Aaron was crouched next to Ryelle, using his bulk as a sort of shield himself. He scanned over the seating looking for heads, but couldn't find any in the high angle. Between his riot shield and the small automatic weapon he carried, there was no way he was able to make a silent approach or fire from enough distance to be effective in a fight.

Footsteps came running up the ramp behind them and the team turned to look, guns trained. Judy dashed up the ramp and concealed herself by the corner of the entryway. Nick came up behind her, panting with the exertion.

"What are you two doing up here? Leave this to the response crew." Raz said in a harsh voice.

"Hey, we were on scene first." Nick looked Raz in the face.

"Well, get gone. We're running out of time for EOD to get these things put out and we're stuck. Got shooters up above us." Ryelle said, shoving Nick back with a massive arm.

"Where are they?" Judy asked quickly looking over the field.

"At least one set up above us somewhere, and another to the left. First explosive is over by the end-field." Aaron pointed to a support pillar at least a hundred yards away. "They have the next section of the tunnels blocked off, and we can't get out in the open with that fire team topside.

Judy followed Aaron's arm to where he was pointing.

"Just those?" she asked.

"I think if we got rid of them, we'd be able to move as a unit past the others and get to a better cover position," Aaron added.

"Who put you in charge of tactics?" Raz snapped.

Aaron hunched low and took another scan over the area. "I've done this before. We just need to get rid of the ones above us. If we did that the shields should be enough to allow us to proceed of a group to that next entryway, and clear it for Frag and team two to get in."

"Yeah, well you can keep your opinion to yourself, band-aids. We move only when I saw we move.

"No, he's right." Bhara said. "We just have to get to that position and let Bradley and Ringgold reposition themselves to cover us. Then we can leapfrog all the way forward."

"I don't need you playing advocate here." Raz told him. "It's my party."

Bhara gave Aaron look that said 'I tried' and went back to his cover position.

"I can get them." Judy said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at the bunny, who was hunched low in a runners start position.

"You aren't even supposed to be this far forward right now." Newbark said to Judy.

"No, I'm small and fast. I can get out there, jump the wall and distract them." She insisted. Behind her Nick was shaking his head 'no' and holding up his paws, silently trying to dissuade her from letting her confidence run away with her better judgement.

"Distract is a really touchy word in this game," Aaron warned. He could already tell he wasn't getting through to her.

"Seven minutes to minimum safe distance." Evan reported over the radio.

"No, I've got this. Get ready." Judy jumped into a sprint, running out the gate. Nick sprang after her, running franticly.

"Carrots, wait! Stop!" he cried as he dashed after her. Newbark jumped from his position, and tried to grab Nick by the back of his shirt and missed, falling flat on his face. Judy went running straight out toward the field, either oblivious to the danger she was in or just letting herself get carried away by a desire to assist.

The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion for Aron. Judy reached the field, Nick catching up behind her. From above the assault team there was a rattle of gunfire, and puffs of dirt kicked up at Nick's feet. He jumped sideways almost running into Judy and got his footing again, but it wasn't enough. A second staccato crack followed by another three round burst rang out from up top.

Nick pitched forward from the impact in his back, and fell on his face in the grass. Judy heard the impact and slowed, turning to look over her shoulder. The second burst of gunfire caught her high in the back, and the force of it knocked her over into a rolling tumble. She came to rest just a foot forward on Nick on his left side. A set of three red splatters bloomed out in her protective vest, and she stopped moving. Aaron could see an identical set of crimson marks against Nick's vest, between the spine and his left shoulder blade. Aaron froze. Time felt like it stood still for a second as he registered what had just happened.

Time started again for him as he snapped back into reality with adrenaline. Raz was yelling into his radio. "Ten Double Zero! Ten Double Zero! We've got two officers down, midfield! Taking suppressing fire, four o'clock high!" He shouted into the mic, hunched behind his riot shield.

Aaron picked up his shield and advanced to the front of the area. "Group up on me. I need to get out there to them!" He yelled at the rest of the squad.

Newbark grabbed him by the shoulder. "No, don't do it. It's too late." He said in Aaron ear.

"They're down. They're down." Raz was locked on the two unmoving bodies at their twelve. Another round of crackles sounded from around them as Aaron advanced past the line, forcing him back.

Aaron turned on Raz, showing his teeth. "You got some sort of vital-vision I don't know about there, huh? You able to assess injuries from way back here? That is my call. They're down when I say they're down. Now get me out there!" He shouted over the background noise and took his bag off his back, sorting through it for a handful of pressure dressings and some coagulant powder. He stuffed them in his vest pouch and grabbed his riot shield.

Raz took another look back to Judy and Nick. "Fine. Squad group up and provide cover. Ledbetter, you're on point." He ordered.

"I'm your medic. Why am I on point?" Aaron said, as the others grabbed their own shields and took positions.

"'Cause I don't like you, that's why." Raz snapped back.

Aaron took a deep breath and got to the front of the circled officers. "Team, on me. Keep me covered, straight out. Stay on me till I say otherwise. "

He stepped out into the sunlit field. It was such a beautiful day for something like this to be going on. The squad moved out in low crouches making a circle of raised shields with Aaron at the leading tip. Ryelle used his gigantic heavy shield like an umbrella, holding it above the heads of the rest of the team to prevent fire from raining down on them.

Impacts clattered off their shields as they moved, heavy fire now coming from above, behind and in front of them. Shots rattled off Aaron's shield, leaving marks on it. "All fire teams give me suppressing fire!" He ordered into his mic, not sure or caring if they would obey. Counterfire rang out now from all over the stadium, echoing off the hard surfaces. It was a true battlefield rally now.

Aaron reached Judy and Nick, planting his ballistic shield in front of them to try and deflect any other incoming fire and rolled Judy over. She looked up at him. "Those things pack a punch," she wheezed out.

"Yeah, they do." Aaron said softly.

"Okay, still breathing." Aaron announced loudly. "We need to move."

"Alright we'll get stretchers out here. Everyone hold positions till we get medical in staging." Bhara called back.

"Four minutes to minimum safe distance." Evan announced again from the radio.

"No time. I'll just move them myself. Someone take my shield." Aaron looked at Judy and Nick and passed his shield to Raz who double fisted barriers as best he could with his short arms.

Aaron picked Judy up and tucked her under his left arm like a football, then bent down to clutch Nick by the scruff of his neck in his right paw. The crew began to work their way back into cover to exit the arena before time could expire. Rounds popped around them still, and a set of red splatters appeared on Bhara's riot shield near Aaron's head.

Nick opened his eyes and looked up at Aaron as he was pulled on the ground quickly. "Hey, you can't just drag me by the neck!" He protested.

"I'm not dragging you by the neck; I'm holding you by your handle." Aaron said seriously as he double-timed it back to cover.

"You're supposed to be dead. No talking." Ryelle looked down at Nick, still moving. Three more shots hit his shield, leaving more red splatters.

"Right, sorry." Nick said, closing his eyes again with an unhappy look.

The group reached the access tunnel entryway, and Chief Bogo stepped from around the corner, holding up a hand.

"Hold there. Stop." He commanded. Aaron let go of Nick, and propped Judy up on him.

Bogo stepped out on the field, his arms held high and proceeded to the middle of the turf. He picked up a bullhorn that was laying in the center of the arena and spoke into it.

"Alright everyone. Let's pause the scenario. We'll debrief and then reset for the second iteration." His voice boomed over the amplifier. Bodies stood up all throughout the stands from behind seats and shouldered their weapons. Aaron and the rest of the squad set their gear down with a sigh and groan.

"Well, that's round one finished." Raz commented, unsatisfied with the events. Nick and Judy got to their feet, looking sore, dirty and worn out.

"Alright. That done, does anyone have any actual injuries I need to see to?" Aaron went over to his trauma bag and unzipped the top.

"Other than my neck? Yeah, my back hurts." Nick complained, helping Judy to her feet.

"Mine too." She said unsteadily.

"Yeah, these things leave a mark." Aaron pulled this magazine from his weapon. It was loaded with rubber bullets with a small capsule of red paint embedded at the tip. They were mostly harmless, but hurt to get hit with; designed for non-lethal riot control.

Bogo walked back into middle of the group of assembled animals and looked around "Well, a spectacular example of how not to handle things if this ever should occur. Get your team back together Raz. Hopps and Wilde, come talk to me. Ledbetter, see Tekari. We reset from the main entrance in twenty minutes."

Aaron found Ledbetter on the other side of the stadium, looking at a map of the stadium layout.

"So, playing the high-risk, high reward game out there, huh?" Evan said as Aaron repacked his trauma backpack.

"I don't think you wanted me to take this job so I could leave the fallen behind. Besides, that whole maneuver just goes to show that we could have moved up at any point."

Evan looked from his papers, and tossed Aaron a bottle of water from a nearby cooler.

"Well, the team was pinned pretty well there. I'm impressed you were able to get out and rescue two officers who should have been mostly dead in a real situation."

Aaron took a long drink of water and wiped his muzzle off. "Hey, mostly dead still means partly alive. I can fix partly alive. Just need the rest of the team to put some trust in me that I know what I'm doing."

"They'll get there. I just can't really be coming in between the group." Evan crouched down and helped Aaron load a few more rolls of packing gauze into the backpack, and zip the overstuffed container up.

"Nobody is asking you to, sir. We train right and I hope to never have to come to anyone's rescue on the team." Aaron said, hitching his gear back up and tightening the chest strap across his vest.

"Well, bad things happen sometimes."

"Yeah, don't I know that?" Aaron replied, heading back to the front of Sun Stadium.

* * *

Nick sat backwards in a chair back at the stations new med bay, Judy standing on a chair side him. Aaron rummaged picked through a cabinet filled with first aid supplies on the wall and found a spray bottle filled with a clear liquid. ' _Caution, liquid nitrogen. Pain relieving spray_ ´ It was labeled _;_ he saturated a set of cotton balls with the spray and stuck them to Nick's back. Golf ball sized welts had swollen up under his fur where the rubber bullets had hit him, even though the vest. It made a crackling sound and stuck to his fur.

"Ow, that hurts!" He complained as Aaron stuck them on using forceps.

"Yeah, they look like they do. They'll go down." Aaron said, prepping another set for Judy. "Next time, don't go getting shot in the back."

Judy leaned over the chair back, her arms on the top of the edge. "I didn't think they'd be able to hit me. I'm supposed to be small and fast."

Aaron stopped for a moment. "Never think you're faster than a bullet. That was a dangerous maneuver to pull there." He said sternly. "What if that was real? What if I hadn't been able to reach you?"

"I knew you'd come for us." Judy said, arching her low back inward in shock as the cold hit her skin.

Aaron sighed and sat down at his desk, covering his face with his paws and thought for a moment.

"Back where I'm from was this thing we called the 'three rules of the medic.' I think maybe it was supposed to be a joke at first, but it really summed up the job well."

He stood back up and paced the room. "The first rule was: 'In any conflict, good people, or I should say animals now, will die.' The second was 'The medic cannot save everyone.'

Judy jumped off the chair, cotton balls still frozen to her back and walked over to where Aaron had stopped pacing. She put a paw against his leg. "What was the third rule?"

Aaron looked down at her. "The medic will absolutely go to hell in order to violate rules one and two. You have my promise I won't leave you no matter what happens. You got me out here and now you're stuck with me." He grinned wickedly.

"Just try not to get shot at too many times. My luck has limits."

"Well, hopefully nobody is gunning for us." Nick said with a smirk. "I'd really hate to have to do that for real."


	13. Sapphire Bullets

**One Month Later**

Aaron was in the med bay, reading a book on advanced concepts of trauma care. It was deep stuff, going into cellular biology and then broken down into differences for different animals types. He almost wasn't sure how anyone could train as a doctor in this kind of environment with all the variances of size and shape. _'Thank goodness they have some common features,'_ He thought. It gave him ideas of how to deal with potential situations he could see himself being faced with however, and he kept at it.

It had been a slow day, and he was waiting on approval from the chief to begin doing duty-fitness physicals at the other precincts. At least the week was ending.

There was a knock at the door, and he called for whoever made the welcome interruption to come in. The door opened and Nick stood in the doorway with Judy. Nick had changed out of his uniform and back to his endless supply of tacky tropical print shirts. Judy was still dressed out in her gear like she was ready to take on the evening world.

"Hey! How's it going?" Nick greeted him. "When do you get off?

Aaron looked at the digital clock, which read just before seven o'clock.

"Five," He said.

"Five? Five what?" Asked Judy, following his eyes to the clock.

"Four, three, two, one," Aaron said, slamming the book shut and standing up.

"Welcome to the weekend!" Nick said, throwing his arms up into the air.

"Yep. Let's get out of here." Aaron said, following the fox and bunny out of the room and back to the lockers.

"So, we never really took the time to break you in properly," Nick said, as they walked to the male change rooms, Judy peeling off to the side and heading to the female lockers.

"What do you mean? I kind of thought that was what that whole mass-disaster scenario last month was for."

"Nah, I don't mean it like that. Never really celebrated you starting work here and everything." Nick said as Aaron stripped out of his uniform and into a casual shirt and cargo shorts. "You never go out and do anything fun. So we're hitting up a club I know downtown."

Aaron thought for a moment. He didn't go out after work much, partly because he still never really had explored Zootopia; and partly because it just made him feel out of place more than usual. "I'm not sure about that. I might just call it an early night."

Nick grabbed Aaron by his paw and tugged. "Nope. Too late to back out now. I already invited everyone," he said, leading Aaron out past the interrogation rooms and toward the lobby.

They passed by Evan on the way out who gave Aaron a wide smile and told him to enjoy himself. It made him wonder if everyone already knew his night time plans before he did.

Judy waited in the lobby, wearing a light blue tank top and torn jeans. They walked outside into the setting sun and found Shay waiting for them with a smile, accompanied by a small fennec fox. He looked up at Aaron through a set of sunglasses that seemed almost too big for his face.

"Do you just turn everyone you meet into cops?" He said to Judy as they came out.

"Hi Finnick. Yeah, I do. You should come join us." She said, prodding the small animal.

"Not happening. Not ever." He said, frowning. "Alright Nick. You said you had something good planned. Let's hear it."

"Well, I was thinking about last time. You said I owed you right? How's The Oracle sound to start? We gotta show Aaron how to have a good time again." Nick said with a devilish smile on his face.

"Now you're talking." Finnick said in his oddly baritone voice. Aaron and Shay followed the three others through the evening roads, walking hand in hand.

"Are you actually able to drink?" Aaron asked Finnick. "Your body mass and height, you'd die of alcohol poisoning by the time you drank a beer."

"Oh you just watch me." Finnick retorted, heading down the sidewalk.

* * *

The Oracle was like any big city nightclub Aaron had ever been to in his younger days. Bright, multi-colored lights shone above them that would have induced seizures in some people; loud, thumping music from a live DJ, an antelope high above the crowd on the dance floor and overpriced drinks.

"Let's get into a jumping mood. You know what I mean by jumping mood? We just can't miss!" He said into over the massive amplifiers at the front of the club. The room blew up into music that rattled the beer bottle Aaron was drinking from. He and Shay leaned on a small circular table by the bar, watching the room around them. Judy and Nick danced with each other, almost lost in the crowd of bodies gyrating on the dance floor. Finnick was over at the bar, trying to chat up another fox who looked like she was having none of it. True to his word, the fox seemed to hold his booze well, at least five shots in and looking none the worse for it. It was impossible for the pair of felines to talk over the sound of the music. Shay grabbed Aaron by the arm and tugged him toward the main dance floor, and he obediently followed.

As they danced through songs, Aaron took stock of the crowds. It was an interesting mix predator and prey animals who seemed to have mostly put the segregation behind them in favor of a good time. There were the usual types here: The ones who ground their bodies against each other to the music; the perpetual bar residents and the brooders who hung out in the corner either uninterested in the goings on around them or trying to be too cool to care. Aaron even noticed another rabbit, a light grey fellow with black markings that made his erect ears look like antennae.

The night went on, and it was after midnight when the group packed it in. Aaron was tired but in a sufficiently good mood now to call the evening a success. The trains back home had slowed in frequency, and they stopped at a nearby platform to check wallets.

"I don't know about the rest of you all, but I'm tapped." Aaron said, looking at his empty billfold. Out of habit, he didn't carry much money on him, and between cover charge and the bar tab it had drained him of liquidable funds.

"Yeah, same here." Judy said, checking her purse." Eyes turned toward Finnick who looked back to Nick with a selfish scowl.

"What happened to 'I owe you'? Don't expect me to cover this one," he said. Nick just shrugged.

"So, guess we hoof it?" Aaron suggested after a moment of determining they weren't going to be buying fare tokens. He stuffed his wallet and phone back into the pocket of his shorts.

They walked through the darkened streets of downtown, Nick leading the way and insisting he knew a shortcut. Aaron and Shay walked behind him, having a private quiet conversation that nobody could make out.

They all proceeded down the streets of a derelict part of downtown. Only the occasional car passed through the otherwise empty streets. Tall buildings, abandoned for years stood around them, industrial brown brick covered in graffiti and broken windows looking on them like empty eye sockets.

Nick turned them onto a long two lane road where a five story building stood at each end of the T-intersections. The full moon shone over the top of the structure behind them, illuminating the sidewalk with its damaged or absent streetlights.

Aaron looked at the building far down the end of the road and thought he saw something in one of the windows. The cheeky grin he had from talking to Shay vanished.

"You alright?" She turned and asked him, notching the concerned look he now had.

"I'm not sure, keep walking." He said in a stern but calm voice. He faced straight ahead but looked up at the building with his eyes only, trying to see if it would appear again. Walking a bit faster, he and Shay came up beside the rest of the group, and he matched pace with them, holding Shay by the arm as she walked beside Judy.

There it was again. A brief flash coming from the corner of the third floor window, moonlight reflecting off something. It was so brief that he would have missed it if he blinked. His mouth went dry and he could feel his heart rate increase rapidly. He let go of Shay's arm, and spoke out of the corner of his mouth, trying not to draw attention to the window, or even face directly toward it.

"Hey, everyone be quiet and listen to me." He said in a nervous, tense manner. He shifted his eyes left and right quickly, assessing his surroundings. The happy conversation around him stopped abruptly at his command. "Keep walking straight ahead. Don't look around. When I tell you to, everyone turn right into that gap in the wall." He said. There was a small indented alcove between two buildings about ten feet ahead of them, not a true ally but rather a small bricked up gap between buildings.

"What's going on? Something wrong?" Judy looked up at him, nose twitching. She looked all around her, not sure what had caused the sudden shift in mood.

"Look straight ahead. Keep walking." Aaron said. His face had gone from a casual smile to one of stony resolution. He pushed Shay beside him and bumped into Judy to keep her moving at a steady pace. Five more feet. Three more.

"Okay, now!" Aaron snapped. He shoved his weight sideways, bumping Shay into Nick and him into the indented wall. At the same time, Aaron bent down and scooped Finnick and Judy from behind, propelling them into the wall. He flattened himself against their bodies, blocking them from coming forward.

"Hey, no playing grab-tail!" Finnick said to Aaron as he was pushed. "What you think you're trying to—"

A whipping sound passed by Aaron's ears and Nick turned just in time to see a puff of light brown fur explode upward from Aaron's mane, hanging in the air. Aaron pushed hard to the wall, sandwiching the others behind him, and covering his head with both paws.

"What was that?!" Judy screamed, ducking low under Nick.

As if to help clarify the event, another bang sounded less than a second later. The pavement at Aaron's feet broke into fragments and dust. "Sniper! Everyone get down! Get on the ground!" Aaron shouted back, pushing Shay and Nick onto the sidewalk.

Another cracking sound and the bullet hit the road a bit further away.

"What the hell is going on?" Shay cried, her head covered by Aaron's paw.

"Someone shooting at us!" Aaron said, his breathing hard now. "Everyone get to cover." He pressed inward, trying to conceal as much of his body as he could in the brick outcropping and pushing hard against the others. Another bang and a stop sign in front of them flashed into a shower of sparks and shrapnel. Aaron leapt forward and ran right, ducking into the protection of a grey metal electrical junction box a few feet away. He looked back. The rest were still stuck at the recessed section of wall. "Shay! Don't move! Stay where you are." She was frozen against the wall, holding Finnick against her like he was a protective apron. Judy and Nick edged out from the cover, watching Aaron.

"Come on! Get the lead out! Don't stand there." He hollered at the two of them. They sprang up and dashed just as another round hit the pavement where they had been a second before. Nick ran into position next to Aaron and Judy came in behind him, tucking under Nick's arm.

"What do we do?" Nick said, panting. Another round hit the front of the metal box and made it ring with a hollow noise.

"I can get up there, maybe stop him." Judy looked up the road, ready to bolt. Aaron moved his hand from his head and grabbed Judy by the waist of her jeans, restraining her.

"No! Are you nuts? You stay put. You remember what happened last time? This is real!" He shouted.

"I'm small; he won't be able to hit me from this far away." She protested.

"He's got a high-power rifle. He doesn't even need to hit you. If he gets close the kinetic force will be enough to knock you flat. You stay here." He tightened his grip and looked up the road. The sniper sent another round out that dented the cover and threw more sparks.

"Okay, I'm going to move across the street and give the rest of you more room to take cover here. Stay as far down as you can. You should be okay as long as he doesn't reposition. I think I can rush him if I'm fast." Aaron said, aware of how heroically hypocritical this sounded.

"I'm going with you." Nick said, bringing a knee under him to get into a sprinter's position.

"No, you stay here. I'm the largest target, I'll move."

"If we both move he's got two of us to aim at. We can move up and get inside the building. He can't get target us both at the same time. Maybe he'll get distracted from the rest of them."

Aaron looked from Nick to Judy and back again. He could feel Judy tensing with energy as he held her pant waist. Whoever he stopped holding back was going to run for it. He turned to Nick.

"I want you to turn to your three o'clock and make it to that old car up ahead. Stay low, head down and run as fast as you can. I'm going to cross the street to that mailbox. Don't move until I say so." Aaron turned to Judy and put his nose an inch from hers.

"You stay here, keep Shay and Finnick safe. Contact SWAT and tell them to send everything they've got. I don't care if they need a tank, have them rolling." He yelled behind him. "Shay, I'm moving up. Going to draw him off you two. I want you to stay down and as far against that wall as you can. Lay on top of Finnick, your color will hide your outlines."

Shay flattened herself over the top of Finnick.. He was looking too afraid to complain about the jaguar crushing him.

"On my mark, we move." Aaron told Nick, letting go of him and Judy.

_Crack!_ A fourth shot ricocheted off the pavement with a whistle.

"Okay, now! Go! Go!" Aaron yelled, and Nick sprang from cover and ran bent over in a race for his life.

Aaron jumped from his position and sprinted as fast as he could across the road. Another shot hit somewhere behind him as he ran. He dove headfirst behind the mailbox, hoping it was solid enough to stop a bullet.

Two more shots about a second apart, one hitting a street sign and leaving a dime sized hole in it.

_How much ammo does this shooter have?_ Aaron thought. "Come on, you gotta reload sometime! He yelled at the window ahead. "Nick. That doorway, stay close to the wall. Now!" He shouted across the street. Nick leapfrogged over the power box and ran against the wall to the entrance of an empty factory.

Aaron looked up for the glint of the scope and saw it flash in the moonlight several times. The gunner was aiming searching for open targets. He used this to his advantage and ran from around the mailbox. A dozen yards ahead, a dumpster was parked parallel to the sidewalk. He made it to the protective cover and tucked his body against it. He was maybe halfway to the sniper's nest now.

Back behind them, Judy scrambled through her purse, in a panic. She found her cell phone near the bottom and fumbled to retrieve it, dialing the emergency line.

"Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?" The mammal who answered spoke in a manner that felt absurdly calm for the chaos on the streets around her.

"This is Officer Judy Hopps. I've got a ten thirty-three, active shooter. I need backup out here. Someone is firing at us!" She tried to control her shaking voice and yelled into the phone.

"Okay, I'm dispatching police to you. Are you or anyone else in immediate danger?"

"Yes, we're in danger. Are you not listening to her?" Shay screamed at the phone.

"There are mammals out here with me. Officers Wilde and Ledbetter are trying to get to the shooter." She said.

"Okay, I'm dispatching police to you. Can you tell me your location?"

Judy looked up and down the street. She had no idea where they were. They had taken so many turns and she hadn't paid attention to where Nick was leading them.

"We're on East Willotta between Baylor and Laurel." Finnick said from under Shay's left armpit.

"Okay, stay on the line with me please and the police will be there soon." The phone operator sounded almost bored with the conversation as another blast of gunfire echoed between the buildings.

Far ahead of Judy, Aaron scrambled behind an empty car and ducked down at the front bumper. The sniper fired again and the bullet clanged off the roof of the car. It was becoming obvious to Aaron that whoever their assassin was, he was not a professional.

On the opposite side of the road, Nick had moved up again and was hidden behind an empty pile of shipping crates that were worn and broken from too much time outside. It wasn't good cover, but it concealed him from view. They were drawing close to the building now and had to take into account being fired on from above. Aaron figured if he could get close enough to the buildings wall, he'd be out of an easy field of fire. That still left the problem of what to do inside. Did the sniper have a spotter? Were there others inside? He wished he had more than his bare fists to back him up now.

The sniper fired again, and there was a high-pitched yelp, like the time Aaron had stepped on his dog's tail accidently. A shower of splinters erupted from the boxes and he saw Nick roll sideways.

"Nick!" He screamed across the road. He was hit possibly. Aaron's rescuer instincts kicked in and he readied himself to run.

"No, I'm okay! I'm good. He just scared me." Nick yelled back but it was too late. Aaron had broken from cover and was running diagonally across the street toward him.

The shooter fired again, and Aaron felt a searing pain jet down his right leg. He half fell and half rolled the last few feet to land beside Nick.

"You're hit." Nick said, looking at Aaron in fear. Aaron looked down at his right leg. The shot had grazed his outer thigh. There was a furrow about six inches long running vertically from his hip. Blood welled up in the laceration and stained the fur around it deep red.

"I'm good. He just winged me. I'll be alright" Aaron said panting. A spreading fractal of color was expanding across his leg.

"We gotta wait. We can't get there with you hurt." Nick insisted.

"No, keep going. He's going to blast through this stuff in no time flat. Push up to the front wall of the building." Aaron said. To drive the point home, another round tore into the lid off one of the crates.

"What are you going to do?" Nick asked.

"I'm gonna make you wish you killed me with that shot!" Aaron hollered from behind cover. He took off running, weaving left and right as fast as he could with his wounded leg. Blood dripped from his leg, leaving a spotty trail behind him. Aaron pressed up against the front wall to the building and looked straight up. In the window he could see the barrel of a rifle sticking out of a corner room with no window. The muzzle spat fire and there was an incredible exploding sound as the sniper loosed another round at Judy and the others.

"Come on." Aaron said to Nick grabbing him by the arm and leading him through the door. A stairway ran up the side of the interior across from the door. Aaron limped his way up the stairs, with Nick using him as cover. Claws out, Aaron slid around the landings and up the stairs, worried about what he would find around each corner. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the building.

As the third floor came around the corner he could hear heavy breathing, followed by another gunshot report. Aaron silently waved Nick to the other side of the door, and peeked around the open doorframe.

A brown bear was leaning out of the only window of the room, a large rifle held in his arms, and a handgun on his hip. He looked through his scope, scanning the streets.

"Come on. Where'd you go?" He growled, and took another wild shot.

Aaron looked to Nick and held up three fingers, counting down. On 'one' they both charged into the room.

The bear turned around at the sound, rifle still in his arms. He paused for a second then raised the rifle, trying to come up with the scope and aim. Aaron charged forward, ducking under the long barrel. The bear fired an unaimed shot, blowing a finger sized hole in the wall beside Nick, who had frozen in the doorway. Aaron came up from under the gun and slapped it sideways across the bear's chest, then grabbed the rifle by its scope with his other paw. The bear had a secure grip on his weapon and struggled with Aaron over possession. Aaron came up with his left leg and kicked him brutally in the low abdomen. The bear doubled over, and lost his grip.

The pain of trying to put his weight on the injured leg caused Aaron to lose his balance, going down on the floor. The rifle skidded across the worn floor towards the door and Nick, who was still frozen in shock. He wasn't ready for this kind of thing. He had no weapon of his own, and the bear was gargantuan compared to him. Like watching a train wreck, all Nick could do was watch, transfixed on the spectacle of the two predators locked in combat.

Aaron tried to get his arms around the bears tree trunk thick legs and pull him off balance, but the bear was so heavy and wide-postured, it did nothing. The bear brought a paw down on the back of Aaron's head, smashing him down. Aaron tried to roll sideways but the bear was on top of him before he could do anything. They struggled on the dirty floor for a moment longer and the large bear grabbed Aaron around the neck, hauling him upward and pinning him backwards against his chest. With the other paw he pulled the handgun on his belt and pressed it against Aaron's temple.

"Alright. Okay. You win." Aaron stopped struggling to free himself as soon as he felt the gun barrel press against him." Across from him Nick spotted the rifle. He took a slow half-step towards it, and the bear shook Aaron violently, pushing the gun even harder against Aaron's head, hard enough he thought it would simply puncture his skull.

"You touch that and I'll put a hole in his head so big you'll be able to reach in his brain and clap." The bear threatened Nick. He took a step backwards to the window. He was a full head taller than Aaron and his bulk was framed by the open window.

"Okay. We're not doing anything. Nick, just…just stay put." Aaron waved Nick away from them. "Now what do you want?" Aaron said, trying to buy time.

"What do I want? I want a lot of things right now, but most of all I want you. I want you to suffer. I want you dead. I'm going to take you back and give your lifeless corpse to him and he's going to thank me for ending your miserable existence. We're not going to let you do this to us!" the bear rattled Aaron again.

"Wait, who is 'he', who's 'we'?" Aaron asked, confused about the references.

"You think I'm stupid? I'm not telling you anything else, but I know the only thing he's going to want more than you as a lion-skin rug is to be the one who pulls the trigger himself." The bear growled in Aaron's ear.

"Okay look, you don't want to kill me. You would have done it already. Am I right? So just let me go. I can't chase you with my leg like this. You could be out the door by the time anyone else gets here." Aaron used his best negotiation skills, which was hard to pull off in his current predicament. Outside, the sound of sirens was audible in the distance.

"I swear I'll do it!" The bear yelled. "You. Cop." He pointed at Nick with his elbow. "You get on your phone, or radio, or whatever and call them off. Tell the police to stay back or I swear to god I'll shoot him."

Nick didn't move. Aaron caught something in his last threat. "You swear to what?" He said.

"I said I swear to god I'll splatter your brain across the wall."

"Hold on. I know who you are. You're one of our people. You came through the portals, didn't you? Nobody uses words like that in this world." Aaron said. He felt like he was running out of time, and wondered how long it would take the rest of the team to get on scene.

"This wasn't fair. It wasn't supposed to come out like this." The bear said with deep anger in his voice.

"I hear you, but we're here now and we've got to make this work. This isn't the way to do it. Just let me go and we can all just clear out." The sirens were louder now.

"I'll do it!" The bear screamed. "I'll fucking do it!" Aaron heard the hammer pull back on the gun and he clenched his teeth. He could see Nick stepping forward, his arm outstretched.

There was a faint popping sound from somewhere in the distance. Before he could place the sound, the bears head jerked forward and a spray of blood peppered the far wall. The bears grip loosened and he fell forward, dragging Aaron down with him. Before he could even register what had happened he was pinned on the floor, and Nick had picked the rifle up. He was aiming it unsteadily at the bear who was now face down and not moving. From where the front of his head had been, there was now a pool of spreading blood and bits of tissue. Aaron pushed the bear off him and scrambled on his back away from his would-be killer.

Nick approached the bear, the barrel of the rifle aimed at him. It was massively too large for Nick and he held it unsteadily. "Is he dead?" He watched the bear for a moment while Aaron stared at a puddle where his blood had mixed with the bears.

"Is he ever," Aaron said, looking at the conical spray of gore now splattered on the cold floor.

"Thank god."

* * *

"Doesn't this hurt?" Nick asked, pressing down on Aaron's leg over the wound.

"Yes it does. Now keep pushing. I have to stop this from bleeding," he replied with a grimace.

Aaron had pulled his shirt off, and was using it as a pressure dressing over the long, slicing wound. Outside the door, the sound of footsteps running up the stairs could be heard. Aaron looked up to see Lyssa and Newbark charge into the room wielding automatic weapons.

"Clear!" They announced simultaneously, entering the room and inspecting the corners through their iron sights.

"TOC, got one bad guy down in here. Two friendlies, one wounded." Lyssa spoke into his mic, running over to check Aaron and help Nick up.

"TOC copies. Will dispatch Tac Med, stand by." The communications operator replied in short transmissions.

Aaron looked up at Lyssa and grabbed his radio. "I am the Tac Med!" He shouted through gritted teeth.

"TOC copies."

Aaron pushed upright more. "Good timing. Tell Bradley and Ringgold not to cut it so close next time," he said.

Lyssa gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?" He asked, glancing at the dead bear.

"Maybe tell the snipers not to wait till he's got the firing pin pulled half way back before they take the shot." Aaron said, honestly more relieved to still be among the living than anything else.

"Bradley and Ringgold aren't with us. We didn't fire that shot."

* * *

On a rooftop on the opposite end of East Wilotta, illuminated only by the moonlight, a figure watched the unfolding scene through a set of binoculars. Satisfied over how things had ended, the figure dissembled a sleek, well maintained high power rifle, taking the components apart with practiced precision and placing them in a metal case with molded foam cutouts. He took out a cell phone and called a number, speaking into the handset. His voice was clipped and direct, with just the slightest hint of an accent.

"It's done… Yes, he's alive… No, I can't do that. They want what he knows."

He put the cellphone away, picked up the rifle case, and vanished into the night.


	14. The Other Side of Love

**West Paces Medical Center Emergency Department**

The hospital ER was abysmally crowded for a Friday night, and was not helped by the gaggle of police cruisers that had crowded outside the ambulance bay. Aaron lay crossly on a stretcher, Nick and Judy, Shay and Evan at his side.

"You know, this is exactly the opposite of how this is supposed to go," he told Nick,

"I'm supposed to be the one helping you after you get shot at, not the other way around."

"At least you got a good haircut with all this," Nick said, smirking. Aaron's right leg had been shaved in a wide strip around his wound, showing a bare patch of pinkish white skin.

"Like you would look any better sheared," Evan said, looking at back and forth from Nick to Aaron. "Does it hurt much?"

"Feels like someone took a hot knife to me," Aaron said crossly. The medication that had been pushed through the IV in his arm was helping a good bit, but the cut still had a tight, stinging sensation to the base of it, where the natural tension of his skin pulled.

"I seem to remember you telling me not to go anywhere for this reason." Judy was standing on a chair beside Nick, and looked at Aaron's leg.

"I stand by my decision. We couldn't have stayed there forever. He would have gotten one of us eventually." Said Aaron defensively.

"You could have gotten killed!" Shay cried. "What would we have done then?"

Aaron reached over the side rail of the bed and put a paw on top of Shay's where she clung to the bed, watching him.

"I was trying to protect us. I couldn't just stay there and hold out till the backup arrived."

"Hey, come on. I looked at the call logs. The response time was only eight minutes. That's not bad for a scramble time and driving out there," Evan chided.

"And he was firing about every three or four seconds. You do the math on it." Aaron retorted.

"And now you're lying here bleeding to death on me." Shay rested her head on top of Aaron's paw. He reached up with the other one, stroked her head and then lifted her chin up to look her in the eyes.

"Hey, listen. I'm not dying here. I've had worse. We got the bleeding controlled. I'll be back up on my feet in a few hours. You do a good pressure dressing Nick."

"Hey, what can I say? I'm a natural," he said with a shrug. "Got blood all over my paws now though." He made a disgusted face and shook his paws.

"Yeah, join the club. I'm not totally sure all of this is mine." Aaron ran his fingers through his mane. Strands of hair stuck together in small clumps.

"Yeah. You said Lyssa told you they didn't fire on him? Than who shot back?" said Judy, thinking and tapping her foot rapidly. It made a sound like a fast drum beat against the seat of the chair she was on.

"That's what he told me. Really, there are a lot of things that are bothering me about this. You two were out on the dance floor most of the night. You didn't see anything? Did we see him there?"

Judy tried to recall the events at The Oracle club and shook her head. "No. Nothing. I don't even remember seeing any bears in the whole place. The fact she had been drinking right along with the rest of them didn't help. "We're going to have to investigate this. He knew we were coming somehow. So did someone else."

"This is going to end up getting looked into carefully." Evan promised. "We can worry about that after you're better though." He tapped Aaron on the shoulder lightly with his fist.

A ram in a doctor's jacket walked into the room with a tray of needles, suture and bandages. "Hi. I'm Dr. Lambert. I came to get you pieced back together."

"You again." Aaron remarked, recognizing the doctor from his first go around on the night of the Portal Storms.

"Me? Have we met before?" The doctor looked surprised.

"Trust me, we've met," Aaron said.

"I meet a lot of animals here. Sorry if I don't remember you," he said absently. He bent over the leg and began prodding it with a syringe and a curved suture needle loaded with a thin filament of cord. He worked in silence for a while until the door was opened again and the bulky form of the chief came in behind him.

"Hey Chief! Just who I was coming to see. Did you get that vacation request I put in approved?" Nick said with a grin.

"You seem to be having an interesting start to your work with us." He looked down at Aaron, ignoring Nick and his attempt to inject humor into the situation.

"Yeah, and here I was thinking I'd be stuck the rest of my time just passing out headache medicine and doing employee physicals 'till I retired," replied Aaron. He wasn't in the mood to take flak from the brass right now.

"Ensure that you have a full report on the incident on my desk as soon as you are able to. I want to know who did this."

"We know who did this and he's down in the morgue sir." Judy said. "We don't know why. Honestly, I've got more questions than answers right now."

"Well, find me answers. These refugees are going to be the death of me." He said, than his expression softened a bit. "He is going to be okay, right doctor?"

"He'll be fine if everyone stops crowding me and lets me work," Lambert complained and went back to his stitching.

* * *

Evan dropped Shay and Aaron off at her place, and let them out near the front door. "You sure you don't want a ride back to Judy's place? I can wait for a moment if you have something you need to do." It was late at night now, the moon going down and the darkness edging slowly towards morning.

"No. I'm good. I'll head back there tomorrow. I want to stay here and make sure she's okay." Aaron said, talking through the metal grate between the front and rear seats of Evan's cruiser.

"Fine, but no heading out on the streets yourself 'till we know what's going on out there. You need to go somewhere call me, whatever the time is and I'll come get you."

"I appreciate that. I'll be okay though. I'm going to stay here for the night. I'll see you on Monday." Aaron opened the door of the car and got out with a slight limp.

"I mean it Aaron. You need me, call me. You two be safe."

He drove off and Aaron joined Shay at the door to the public housing complex where Aaron had been before, looking for the missing refugees. It seemed like so long ago now.

Shay opened the door with her key and walked in quietly. The house was dark, everyone else asleep at the time. She helped Aaron limp up the stairs to the second floor. The stairs creaked as they walked and they went to Shay's room, closing the door behind them.

The room was sparsely furnished, the wood floor worn and Shay's few belongings that Aaron had gotten for her set on an otherwise empty bookshelf across from the bed. She went to the window and looked out it at the glow from the city lights.

"Why is it like this?" she said to the glass pane. "Why is it that we end up out here and all the violence and hatred I hoped we might have gotten away from just comes right back at us?"

Aaron came behind her and put his paws on her trim shoulders, rubbing them. "This world's just as fundamentally broken as Earth. They just don't seem to want to admit it here. I think it's what happens when you put a whole bunch of otherwise intelligent creatures in the same place. Feelings get in the way of things sometimes." He slid his paws down her arms and hugged her to him.

"I miss everyone, Aaron. I miss my friends. I miss my kids. I miss having someone to be with me." Her deep green eyes glistened in the reflection of the window. Aaron didn't say anything for a long time. He just held Shay, rubbing her shoulders and holding her to him.

"I wonder sometimes if I had anyone back home to miss me even. I lived alone. I went to work, came home and repeated the same thing day after day. I wonder if there was anyone who even noticed I was missing."

Shay looked over her shoulder at Aaron. He stood there, massaging her and looking at the rooftops of the neighboring buildings.

"I'm sure there had to be someone out there that thinks about you."

"Maybe. I'll settle for someone thinking of me here." He kissed the back of her neck and rubbed his muzzle against her softly.

"God it's lonely here on the other side of love." She said, turning toward him. He hugged her close to him and they walked to the bed, still wrapped in each other's arms, falling on the old mattress.

"It doesn't have to be." He whispered.

She gave him a smile, looking into his mahogany brown eyes. "Just don't bust your stitches." He said.

"I'll be careful. I promise."

* * *

**Two Days Later**

The start of the work week had come again, and brought an end to a weekend that Aaron would have loved to have never occurred, and at the same time wanted to have again. He sat behind his desk with his laptop opened and watching a video; a police issued muzzle in his hands. He poked a claw tip into the lock on the back of the straps and worked it around inside, watching the instructional video and trying to feel his way inside the mechanism. There was a clicking sound that he felt more than heard and he grinned.

Someone knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for an answer. Even walked with an otter tagging behind him.

"Working on something important?" Evan asked, watching Aaron as he dug in the clasp on the back of the muzzle.

Aaron stuck the tip of his tongue out, concentrating. There was a click and Aaron rotated his finger, the lock popping open, delighting Aaron.

"Only if someone ever slaps me in one of those things again." He said, setting the opened muzzle on the desk. "Brought a friend with you?"

The otter that had come in with Evan was tall by Mustelid standards, and had on a jacket with a badge clipped to the front pocket. "I'm Detective Brian Rivers, from precinct two."

Aaron nodded once in greeting. "If you're here for a routine or duty-fitness physical you'll have to email me and I'll put you on the list. I haven't gotten the final bits of equipment to start the other precincts yet. If you're here for an emergency, sign in on the clipboard over there and have a seat." Aaron instructed.

"Actually, I came here to talk to you about the events of the weekend." Rivers said.

"Chief Bogo has the report on his desk already, unless you need something else."

Rivers nodded, and held up a folder with a surprisingly thick bunch of papers clipped inside of it. "We already read it. I was hoping we could talk in more detail. I've got a room we can use." He motioned for Aaron to follow him, and they walked from the med bay.

The three proceeded down the halls through the main officer's desk and through another door to the interrogation rooms. Large rectangular rooms with reinforced windows, cameras and tables inside. They came to the final room on their right and Evan opened the doorway for Aaron and Det. Rivers. Inside was a grand sized table, photos and documents spread across it. Nick and Judy were inside as well. Judy paced the room and Nick was sitting at the far end of the table, looking like he was in for some sort of crime himself.

Rivers want over to the table and clicked a small remote in his pocket, turning the video and audio recording equipment on in the room. "Coffee?" He offered.

"No. I'm good. I hear that stuff stunts your growth." Aaron said, to Nick's subtle amusement.

Rivers jumped up a large chair and then climbed onto the table itself. "So, how is your leg doing?" He asked, looking at a picture on the table that had been taken of Aaron's injury while at the hospital.

"It'll heal fine. Scar shouldn't be too bad once the fur covers it. It takes more than a shot like that to kill me." Said Aaron.

Rivers nodded. "You know you're very lucky. A another inch the other way and you would have—"

"I'm aware of what would have happened." Aaron cut him off. "I'm sure you didn't just come all the way out here to ask about my health though. That's my job."

"No. I didn't. The shooting happened out in my coverage zone, so I've been tasked with investigating it. There are a lot of things going on with this case so I was hoping you three could fill in some details about the evening. The investigation so far is leaving us with a lot of questions."

"We were talking about that the night it happened. We'll help however we can." Judy said.

"Good. You said you and Wilde were at the club with Officer Ledbetter that night. Did you happen to see anyone while you were there? Did you come across the shooter at any time?"

"No. Nobody like that ever, sir. There was a pair of hippos that we ran into on the dance floor, but I never saw any bears. It was pretty crowded though."

Judy looked at photos taken from the security cameras in the club. They were grainy and dark, but the dancers on the main floor were visible. Someone had circled Judy and Nick dancing with each other in red marker.

"I think I'd notice someone like that." Nick said, insisting. "I'd have especially noticed someone with a gun that big."

"What about you Ledbetter? I read that you had brought a friend with you. Shaena Burner? The toxicology report from the ER shows you had alcohol in your system at the time this all happened." Rivers asked, looking at a sparse casefile with Shay's information on it beside significantly more detailed employee file on Aaron.

"Is it illegal for me to go and have a few drinks with a friend on my night off?" Aaron said, defensively.

"No, of course not. Did you have any arguments with anyone though? Did anyone there seem upset with you?"

"I never had any arguments with anyone the whole time we were theres" said Aaron, feeling he was on the verge of having one right now. He didn't understand why the detective was questioning him like he was the perpetrator of the whole thing. "I especially didn't have any arguments that would have made someone decide to put out a hit on me."

"I see. You think this was a deliberate assassination attempt?" Rivers asked, looking at a post mortem photo of the bear taken by the CSI unit. Arrows had been drawn on the photos showing the vector the second sniper's round had taken.

"I'm sure of it detective. This guy knew where to find us. He was waiting for us to come down that street." Judy said, standing beside him on the table.

"That brings up my other question: Aaron, you knew this sniper was there before he fired on you all. How did you know about that?" Rivers asked, walking across the tabletop.

Aaron stood up and sifted through the photos on the table with Nick and Evan looking over him. He found a pair of pictures, one showing the building taken from the perspective of where they had taken cover in the alcove, and another showing a close up of the rifle itself. He tapped the picture of the window with a claw tip.

"Scope was glinting in the window when he aimed at us. He didn't have anti-reflective coating on his lens and it was shining in the moonlight. He took a while to line up that first shot. It's an old Army trick. I know what to look for in my surroundings."

"Did we ever get a name on this guy?" Nick asked the detective.

"No. Nothing. No ID on him. Nose and paw prints didn't come up with anything in the database." Rivers said.

"So, he was clean? Didn't you say he was a refugee Aaron? How'd you figure that out?" Judy asked.

"He made a reference to something while he had me at gunpoint. Some of the stuff he said. I knew he came through with us." Aaron gave a few sentence summary of the religious reference that the bear had made during the standoff and why it was important.

"So this guy was either clean since he showed up, or we just never caught him before," Nick mused. Aaron shook his head side to side emphatically.

"No. He hasn't done this before. He's no professional. Look here." Aaron pointed to pictures of the street. Pock-marked pavement and objects had been marked with yellow placards where the bullets had hit.

"He was taking wild shots at us. This guy wasn't a soldier, he wasn't an assassin. He was just someone with a gun and a target. He wasn't very good with his rifle."

"Well, he was good enough to hit you." Judy said. He had her foot on top of the wound picture of Aaron.

"No. He got lucky with that shot. If he was practiced, he would have pegged me before we even knew he was there.

"Okay, but what was it he said to us? Something about taking you back to someone?" Nick recalled the exchange between the bear during the tense standoff before their killer was miraculously executed. Rivers watched Aaron, waiting for a response.

"He said he was going to take me back to 'him' and let him kill me." Aaron said.

"Okay, so than we have whoever hired our shooter." Rivers said like it wrapped up the whole mystery at once.

"The problem is that we don't who this other guy is." And that still doesn't tell us who saved you." Judy said to Aaron, hard in thought. "They both knew where we'd be. What's more is the other sniper knew where to be to stop you from getting killed in the first place. We never found any shell casings on the scene, but CSI did find a small clump of fur on the rooftop, we're having that analyzed"

"Maybe I have some sort of personal bodyguard?" Aaron suggested.

"Or maybe someone else hired them to keep you alive." She said.

Aaron racked his brains and walked a lap around the table. "With exception of Shay and everyone here, I can't think of anyone I'm so important to that they'd hire someone to tail me."

Rivers interrupted Aaron's restless walk. "You've had a lot going on since you arrived in the city. There have also been a lot of petty crimes from the refugees I'll point out. Is there anyone you know who would dislike you enough to want you dead over it?"

"What about Stone?" Nick pulled a file out of the scattered papers. Rivers took the paper and read it.

"Right, Randall Stone. I've seen the name before. He wasn't a big supporter of you joining ZPD, was he?"

Aaron took the sheet and flipped it back over. It contained everything that he had told them about his associations with other refugees during his interviews before leaving for the academy. "Randall is a grumpy jerk, sure. He's not the kind of arrange a hit on me. His wife would have kicked his tail into orbit if he tried something like that."

"This isn't some petty crime problem, Brian." Evan said to the detective. "We have someone who specifically hunted down one of our officers and now we have a second killer on the loose someplace else with an unknown motive."

"Like I said: We've had problems with a few of the refugees over the last few months. It's an ongoing issue." Rivers said, defending his statements.

"If you keep treating this like an 'us versus them' problem, we're never going to get anywhere. It's going to put me in an awkward position. I'm trying to keep the peace here."

"I'm just making a point," Rivers stated flatly.

"I get your point," Aaron said in a sour voice. "I'm just saying you have more than a minor crime here, like the captain pointed out. It's unfair to say that this is a refugee wide problem."

Rivers gathered his papers and tucked the folder back under his arm. "Let's just say we are going to be keeping a close eye on things. I don't know if your mystery mammal is going to send someone else after you, or go on to other things, but I don't think that this is over at all."

He walked out the door, clicking the recording devices off and leaving Judy with the others to plan their next move.


	15. This Dirty Town

Judy sat in the driver's seat of their patrol car, Nick beside her and sucking at the stick on one of the "pawpsicles" he had made at home.

"…No. There is no way you actually did that!" She laughed uproariously.

"Yep! We did it. We barely got out before the police got there," he said with a slick smile. He chewed on the stick to the frozen treat and shifted in the passenger seat. They had taken a night shift for the first time in a while and told stories to pass the time when listening to the radio had gotten boring.

The dispatch radio made a popping sound.

"One-one-three?" said a voice on the other end. Judy eyed Nick with a grin.

"They probably heard you telling dirty stories all the way back at HQ. Made their ears tingle." She reached out with a half laughing breath and keyed the mic.

"One –one-three, go ahead."

"One-one-three, respond priority one to a code ten-ten. Reports of a fight at one six one three Holmium parkway. Wonderland Nightclub. Have reports of a fight in progress."

"Copy dispatch." Judy said, buckling her seatbelt and sitting back up straight.

"Boy, whatever happened to just paying your bar tab and getting kicked out? Now everyone has to start a fight over who leaves a tip," Nick said in a casual voice. He reached over to the center console and flipped the lights and siren on as Judy pulled out of the side alley they had parked in.

"Everyone thinks they have to start something these days. Probably one of those shady foxes again," she joked.

Nick waved a paw across his face and laughed.

"You just wait, Carrots. One of these days you're going to come across some mass murdering bunny and feel bad about it."

"Ahh, come on. We're too sweet and adorable to do that," she said, making a hard turn down a four lane road. Cars pulled over to the side and she zipped between the traffic with a practiced, easy maneuver. "Now let's go see who got their feelings hurt about the music selection."

"You know how these things go. It's either something or it's nothing," Nick said, holding on tight for the ride.

* * *

Aaron was alone in the med bay, eyes closed and his face scrunched up as he fiddled with another lock in his paw. He stuck his claw inside the padlock he had borrowed from one of the other officers and felt the tumblers move in small clicks. After a moment of wiggling his finger he gave it a twist and opened his eyes to see the hasp come open.

Grinning with joy he reset the lock and closed his eyes to try again, this time holding the upside down. He was surprised at how well he had picked up something of questionable legality without the need for special tools. He worked the internal parts when his portable radio sounded off loudly. Startled he jerked and the tip of his claw broke off inside the lock with a snap and a twinge of pain.

"Son of a—" He swore, and grabbed the walkie-talkie, turning the volume down and sucking at the injured finger.

"One-one three for one-two-seven?" Judy's voice came over the radio. The transmission was good and he could hear her crystal clear. Something in her voice sounded worried. No, it sounded more than worried; it sounded deeply upset and scared.

"One-two-seven?" He said back, grabbing a paper and pen. "Everything alright out there Ears?" He said, calling her by a nickname and trying to sound light. There was a long pause on the other end.

"One-two-seven, can you—" Judy cut off in the middle of her sentence. "Can you come out here please?" she asked in a shaky voice that sounded like she was or had been crying.

"Copy. What's going on out there? Do you need medical? Need EMS dispatched?" There was no reply and Aaron was about to hit the transmit button again when she came back on.

"No. Just…Can you come here? Please?" she begged in a despairing sounding voice. She provided an address before he could ask for any other details.

"Two-seven copies. I'm en route." He picked up his jump bag, slung it onto his back and ran for the door.

Aaron quickly passed through the SWAT crew room where Zilna and Bhara were sitting at a table playing a game of something against each other on their phones. "Something up or you coming out of your hole to be social?" the zebra looked over his shoulder at Aaron.

"I just got a call from Hopps. She's on patrol out in lower part of downtown with Wilde. Asked me to respond to their location but didn't say what for. She sounded upset."

Bhara set his phone down and smoothed his frizzy mane back, using his claws like a comb.

"Eh, she's a rabbit. They get so emotional."

"This didn't sound like emotional, guys. This sounded like something real big just went down," Aaron said to the pair. "I'm going to head out there and see what's going on with them. Just be ready to send me some backup if I need it."

"You're heading out alone?" Zilna looked at Aaron's right leg. His stitches were out, and the wound was healing into a scar. The fur had begun growing back to cover it a bit, reducing the obviousness of it. Shay called it his "battle wound."

"Yeah, for now. I don't want to rally the whole night crew if this isn't something, but I'd appreciate you listening out for me."

"You aren't supposed to be deploying on your own per the captain, and we aren't doing anything important, are we Zilna?" Bhara said, picking his vest up.

"I guess we aren't." The zebra stood up with a sigh and groaned.

"Alright, let's go and see what happened. This better be something good."

* * *

Aaron arrived and pulled into the parking lot of the seedy looking club. He'd never been there before but could already tell it was one of those places that you only went if you were feeling lonely, frustrated and had a pile of singles to burn. The brick facade on the front of the building was grimy and coated with the soot of years in a dirty part of town. The front door was decorated in sharp angled pink and blue neon letters that said "Wonderland" in a font that reminded Aaron of a bad 80's punk club. The bright blue front door with a single round portal in the middle of it hung slightly ajar. If there was any place in the city that Aaron had to point out as a low end strip club, it would be here.

A soft rain started just before they arrived, and drops of water flashed in red and blue dashes, reflecting the emergency lights from the top of Judy and Nick's running cruiser parked outside the front door. Two other police cars had arrived on scene, along with a single ambulance. A small group of officers were helping sparse mammals from the door and away from the scene. They all had expressions of shock on their faces.

Nick was pacing the parking lot, disrupting puddles into fragments of splashes. He watched the ground, hardly even looking up when the others arrived and jumped from the cruiser. Judy was sitting on the hood of her still-running cruiser. Her ears hung, and she was looking up at the night sky, wide eyed and hardly blinking. Rain dripped on her face. It was a look that Aaron had seen before. The distant, blank stare of someone who had seen something they couldn't quite cope with.

Aaron walked slowly over to where she sat; smelling exhaust, damp pavement and fear mixed with something else.

"They're inside," Judy said absently after a moment. She pointed to the front door of the club with its pink and purple neon sign over the door, not looking away from the glowing skyline.

"What did you see in there?" Aaron asked. His throat and chest tightened.

"Come on; let's get you out of the rain. Go sit in the car. Zilna and Bhara are here. We'll check it out." He helped her from the hood, and into the passenger seat in the cruiser.

"Nothing you can do now. There wasn't anything we could do," she mumbled, curling into a tight ball on the front seat.

' _Don't tell me that. I have to do something.'_ he thought, gently closing the door and stepping slowly backwards from the car.

He took a deep, shaky breath and waved Zilna over.

"Inside. Don't know what's going on," he said, watching Judy through the window.

"Alright. Bhara up front, I've got the rear. You aren't armed," Zilna pointed out. Aaron glanced at his belt. He'd left with nothing but his jump bag.

He stacked up in the middle of the other two and they approached the doors in a column. Deep blue double doors led to a long hallway. It was dimly lit, the only light coming from dark blue bars of coated fluorescent lights The hallway was capped by another set of swinging doors with the club logo painted on in glow-in-the-dark paint. It was empty in there. No bouncer, no patrons, no officers. The smell from outside was much stronger now. Coppery, like old pennies and sharp. Bhara reached the doors to the antechamber and pushed them open.

The inside of the club was a slaughterhouse. House lights had come up, illuminating the room in horribly sharp detail. Bodies lay everywhere; trails of dead and scraps of soaking wet cotton dress shirts mixed with blood and alcohol. Aaron froze at the entrance. A stage with a pole in the middle was abandoned, spattered in blotches of red. Round high-top tables with stems that curved in like hourglasses were arraigned in arcs around the dancer's stage, tipped over and damaged. On the back wall a small bar with stools was abandoned. Bottles of liquor were stood up on a mirrored serving rack. Behind the bar, and surrounded by broken glass a wolf was hidden, a vicious bite wound on his neck.

Aaron heard Zilna utter something, but his voice came from a distant tunnel in his ears. He couldn't look away from the scene. A second wolf was sprawled on the ground, a knife jammed into his skull through his right eye. A cheetah, one of three that lay dead, was hanging from a barstool with his throat slit open in the most grisly way imaginable. Everywhere Aaron looked, some new grisly sight appalled him. He had seen death, he had seen battlefields before. Somehow though, the sheer brutality of this place made him feel sickened. Whatever had happened here, all the sanity had taken leave of the room.

Taking a moment to collect himself, Aaron looked around. He counted eight dead, a mixture of both predator and prey animals. Tooth and claw makes were mixed with weapon wounds and bludgeons from hooves and furniture.

"They all went savage?" Zilna said in a breathy question of wonder and horror.

"No. Not the whole room. Not at the same time," Bhara answered, inspecting a puddle of gin next to a broken bottle that a donkey was holding.

"I'll get CIS out here," Zilna offered.

"Get the coroner. There's nothing I can do here," Aaron said, turning to leave without another word.

Outside, the storm was growing in intensity, the pelting rain making high-pitched noises on various surfaces. Aaron walked slowly back to Judy and Nick's vehicle. Nick had stopped pacing and taken Judy's place on the hood of the car. Aaron walked unsteadily over and boosted himself up onto the hood beside him. Inside, Judy was hunched over the dashboard, chest heaving and her image blurred by the water that ran down the windshield.

Aaron looked at Nick. He kept scrubbing at the bridge of his long nose and eyes, like the rain could wash away everything he'd seen. It was a long time before he even acknowledged the presence of Aaron sitting beside him with little more than a change of the angle he faced.

"Nick," Aaron said, reaching out to him.

Nick exploded into fury at the sound of his name.

"I don't want to hear it!" He screamed suddenly at Aaron, teeth bared and eyes narrowed. He pointed at Aaron with a claw and poked it at him. "Don't you even say it to me. I don't want to hear about how you've seen worse or done worse or whatever. I know you're thinking it. I have never seen something this bad before, and I don't need you to give me your thoughts. You're just going to try and say it could have been worse."

From over by the entrance Zilna looked at Nick who was growling at Aaron.

Aaron reached over to Nick slowly, trying to defuse the situation. "I wasn't going to—"

"Don't touch me! Just leave me the hell alone!" Nick screeched at him and swatted Aaron's paw out of the way. He jumped from the roof of the car and ran through the parking lot and down the street in the rain. Aaron watched him go and thought about chasing after him, then came to the sudden apathetic realization that he didn't care. He slid from the hood and stood there for a moment, his mane soaking in the rain. Zilna walked over to Aaron and stood there, not speaking.

"You're no better than we were." Aaron said eventually, his eyes on the entrance to the Wonderland club. "That's what makes this even more disappointing."

* * *

The restaurant was nearly empty late at night, but the lights still glowed and the sign flashed open in garish neon. Aaron sat at a table, head lowered a pounding headache. A world ago he would have described the place as a cheap Chinese bar and diner, but now he wasn't sure what it would be called. The room was painted in shades of red with green and gold trim. He sat with his head down and stirred at a bowl of soup, a beer with unreadable writing on the label beside him. He picked at the label a few times and went back to stirring the bowl of broth.

A skunk walked by and stopped by his table. "Need anything?" she asked as Aaron stripped off a ribbon from his bottle and rolled it in his fingers. He looked at her with an empty stare and didn't say anything. She slinked off after an uncomfortable moment.

A small bell above the door jingled and someone walked in. Aaron registered the sound of the rain outside but didn't bother to look behind him at the door. At the moment, his would-be assassin could have sent a team of killers after him and he wasn't sure he would care.

Nick walked up beside him at the table. His fur was damp from the rain and stuck together in tight, spiky clumps. He smelled like a wet dog. Aaron looked at him silently and went back to staring at his food. He wasn't even sure he was hungry right now but it gave him an excuse to stay in the all night diner.

Nick pulled a chair out opposite him and flopped down heavily in it, his wet uniform making a rubbing noise as he sat. He crossed his arms on the table and rested his head in them. The dining room was eerily silent. The waitress walked back over and noticed Nick buried in the table.

"Does he want something?" She asked Aaron. Nick picked his head up bleary-eyed and stared at the skunk like she was speaking a different language. Aaron picked his shredded beer bottle up in his left paw.

"He'll have one of these." He said, unsure what he was drinking himself. The waitress gave them both an eye,

"Are you two supposed to be drinking on the job?" She said, suspiciously looking at their uniforms.

"We're off duty. Don't worry; I'll make sure he's okay." Aaron assured her with the most convincing gentle smile he could manage at the time. The red lampshade above him threw a pink glare that reflected off the surface of his soup. It reminded him of blood thinned out with spilled alcohol. The waitress shrugged and sniffed, walking back through the open door beside a tiled hallway that lead to the restroom and disappeared into the kitchen.

Aaron looked around the dining room. Only one other mammal was there, a meerkat in a small booth with a newspaper and a plate of spring rolls. He flipped through the paper, paying no attention to the world around him where blood and tears washed down the storm drains in the downpour with the rest of the filth. .

The skunk came back to the table and set a brown bottle in front of Nick's face which was still buried in his arms, and an identical one by Aaron. "Looked like you needed a refill." She flicked her striped tail and walked away before Aaron could say anything.

Nick lifted his head like he was just waking up from a nap and stared at the bottle with moist eyes. Aaron picked the bottle up and hooked the cap off with a claw and set it back in front of Nick, prodding his arm with the base. The cap clattered on the acrylic table, and they both watched it settle near the edge. Nick picked the beverage up after a moment and sniffed it, eventually taking a small sip and then going back to starting at the red and blue metal cap lie it would hold answers to the evening.

"What did you do with them?" He asked after a moment. He tilted his head back and stared at the bare lightbulb under the lamp under its shade hanging over the table. The brilliance of it was giving him a headache, but it felt better than the alternative to how he felt.

Aaron took a mouthful of soup. It was hot and too salty, filled with some unidentified spice and meat.

"Bhara called the coroner. Wasn't anything I could do. There's nothing left to save there; I'm no miracle worker. I'm not that special."

"They were gone before we even got there." Nick slumped down low in his chair, watching his beer. "We just didn't know who else to call. Needed someone."

Aaron watched him. Nick was so low in his seat his chin almost rested on the table. Somehow misery and disaster always invited company. Someone to share the pain with. Somehow, it always found Aaron. He wondered if it was just his job to be witness to the worst possible outcomes of violence, or if he'd done something in a past life to make evil follow him around like a dark cloud. Maybe it was both.

"You've seen all this before, haven't you?" Nick said eventually. "Of course you have."

Aaron didn't reply. He thought back to a bombing his unit had responded to in the Middle East. An IED had gone off in a crowded marketplace, destroying everyone and everything in it. It was so long ago. How many years had it been? It felt like yesterday. It wasn't the time to vilify himself and the rest of his kind right now with stories. He wasn't even sure who 'his kind' were anymore.

"There's nothing you could have done. It's all senseless violence." Meaningless platitudes that meant nothing coming from his mouth. "Yeah, I've seen it before. I was kidding myself when I thought it'd be better here. There wouldn't be need for this kind of work if it was."

Aaron drummed his fingertips on the table restlessly. He had no words for what had happened in the low class strip club. How do you offer comfort to someone who had just seen something like that for the first time?

"Seen it before, been there right in the middle while it was going down. It doesn't get easier. You just learn how to deal with the feelings or you bottle them up until they eat you from the inside out." Aaron looked down at his reflection in the bowl. He looked like he'd aged a dozen years in the last few hours and realized he was just as upset by what he'd seen. Not that he could admit it though. Not right now. Wasn't he supposed to be the support? "I'm sorry. I'm terrible at this offering advice thing. I'm just not that good at my job sometimes."

"So what did you do?" Nick asked him and sucked down half his beer in a long, noisy gulp.

Aaron looked back up. "I'm sorry Nick. I told you. There wasn't anything I could do about that. I can't bring back the dead."

"That's not what I mean. What did you do before? When you saw this kind of thing?"

Aaron tilted back in the red vinyl-cushioned seat he was in and sighed. "I'd get together with the guys from my unit. We'd sit. We'd drink. We'd talk about it and convince ourselves it was just the way of the world. We'd set up stones in the middle of our firebase and fight each other, work out the anger that way. I can't do that anymore. I lost all that when I came here. Everyone I knew disappeared in the void between worlds. I don't have anyone now."

Nick narrowed his eyes, looking clear and focused for a moment and chugged the rest of his drink, slamming the bottle down the table with a loud clap. Aaron thought for a moment he was headed for another emotional meltdown. There wasn't anything he could do to prepare for that though. Just clean up the mess, pay the check to head back into the rain and wander the streets alone.

"What about us, huh?" Nick said stabbing the words at him. "What about us? You've been living with Carrots and me for months now and you treat us like we don't exist. You act like everyone around you is a ghost and you're just trying to not see them. We're here. We've always been here."

Aaron sat quietly for a moment. He wanted to run away, and to stay all at the same time. "Yeah. I know." He said softly. "I know and I'm sorry. Sometimes it's not the same. This wasn't some small adjustment I had to make though. All this is too new. I never made friends easily. I went to work; I came home and repeated the same thing every day until whatever sent me here happened. Maybe I'm just too old and stuck in my ways to deal with it."

"Maybe you need to quit telling yourself that and just let it ride." Nick said.

"Just let it ride?" Aaron said, sputtering. "Do you know how insane I feel? We just walked into a nightclub murder scene that looks like the local zoo had a fight club going. There are dead animals everywhere. There was a dead impala stripper in a G-String in there, and now I've got a police officer fox playing social psychologist to me as I get drunk at a restaurant staffed by a skunk. I can't even begin to tell you what this feels like. The worst is the feeling that I somehow brought this with me."

Nick reached halfway across the table. Aaron took a deep breath and counted to ten in his head. It wasn't their fault, but less than a year of time in Zootopia and he still kept thinking he'd wake up and find out he was dreaming.

"You didn't bring it with you, it was always like this. We had months worth of protests and hate crimes over Carrots misspeaking at a press conference. Doesn't matter what kind of mammal it is. We're all violent bastards deep down.

"Maybe it comes with evolving." Aaron suggested sadly. "We had that sniper after me and he didn't seem to care if he took the rest of you out with me, now this."

"So? They aren't related."

"This all started after we came here. How do you know they aren't?"

Nick covered his eyes with his paws, snout sticking out from between them. "I don't know. Still doesn't make this your fault. I'm sorry we brought you into this."

Aaron sighed. "It would have came back to me anyway. I'm sorry if I'm not being a good friend. I'm just trying to deal with myself too much. I'll try to do better. " He promised.

"Yeah, I know. We're going to need you. Shay is going to need you." Nick said.

Aaron closed his eyes for a moment and thought about Shay. He hadn't told her what had happened. Sometimes ignorance really was bliss. He worried that if they didn't figure out what was really going on with the sudden surge in violence that it would drag both of them to hell together. He didn't want that to happen.

Aaron opened his eyes and started Nick in the face, setting his expression. "Look, I'll be there for you both. I'll try to help. Don't let this be what breaks you."

Nick toyed with his empty drink. "I'll try not to. I'm going to find out who did this, I swear."

"Good. I know you will. Let's get out of here for now." Aaron stood up and pulled a set of bills from his wallet, anchoring them under his unfinished food. "Just keep the change." He told the waitress who was sitting in a booth near the front door, white stripes tinged pink by the flashing 'Open' sign near in the front window.

Nick and Aaron walked out of the restaurant. Outside, the rain had finally ceased, leaving the humid air silent, devoid of all sound other than their footsteps.

* * *

Back at the apartment, Aaron paced through the darkened kitchen. Nick had gone to bed as soon as they returned, but Aaron couldn't cool his racing thoughts enough to sleep. So he walked laps through the room, padding quietly around and thinking about the night. The silence of the apartment was punctuated by occasional squeaks from Judy, who he had found when he returned home, burrowed tightly in her blankets.

There was a pitched scream from the dark bedroom, and Aaron startled, tripping over his jump bag that sat in the middle of the floor where he dropped it. He listened and heard nothing for a moment, and then Judy stumbled out of the room. She walked across the room, paying no attention to Aaron and flopped down in a kitchen chair.

"Can't sleep. I keep having nightmares about everything." She said, head leaned tilted backwards over the top of the chair back. Aaron stood over her, eyes on the wall.

"Yeah. I can understand why. You should rest though. Nothing is ever better in the middle of the night." He said quietly, almost like he wasn't even there. ' _Is that why I'm up at one in the morning pacing?'_ He thought.

"I just can't do it. I close my eyes, and I see it all." Her eyes were wet and bloodshot, bags hanging under them. He walked away from the chair, and retrieved his bag from the middle of the floor. He sorted through the contents and grabbed a small glass vial from inside a plastic case. _'Nexsolo: Small Animal Tranquilizer, see insert for usual dosing instructions.'_ He drew up a small syringe of clear liquid.

"Give me your arm." He instructed.

"What is that?" She still staring at the ceiling. Aaron dropped the vial on the table, and she picked it up, looking in the dark room at the vial. She dropped the glass container and it rolled onto the floor, coming to rest under the table. She held her arm out in wordless consent. Aaron emptied the contents into her and stood there waiting.

"Have to know…happened." She mumbled and slumped low in the chair. Aaron watched her for a moment more, her breathing slowing into low sighs.

"Yeah. You'll figure it out. You always do, don't you" He said and picked her up, taking her back into the bedroom and placing her back on the bed. He looked down at the nightstand between the beds. Her phone sat there, face up. He picked it up and scrolled through the contacts list, picking an entry from it. It rang a few times and someone picked up.

"Hey, Judy? You okay? We heard about what happened." Clawhauser answered the phone in his usual overly-cheerful manner.

"This is Ledbetter." Aaron said flatly.

"Oh, Aaron! Hey, what are you doing with Judy's phone? Is everything alright out there?"

"You know it's not Ben, so don't bother asking. I'm calling on behalf of Hopps and Wilde. They won't be in tomorrow."

"Uh, okay. Chief is going to be looking for them though. The media has been all over this. He's got a press conference scheduled." Clawhauser said. He sounded like he had his mouth full.

"I'm making a professional call here. Call it enforced mental health leave."

"Can I speak to Judy?" He asked.

"She's asleep right now. If Bogo has a problem with it have him call me."

"Sure. You aren't asleep?" Clawhauser asked, the answer obvious.

"No. I don't think I'm going to be sleeping for a while now.

Aaron hung the phone up and set it on the kitchen table. He walked to the window and looked out through a slit in the blinds at the glowing light pollution of the sky; thinking of blood mixed with rainwater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes From Reality
> 
> Apologies for the long break in between chapters. A lot of stuff has come up in the last week for me, including finals for an accelerated college course of my own, and a convention I had looked forward to for a year. I've also had to do a lot of thinking about where I am going with Anatopism, what it means for me and the story and how it affects the characters as I close up the first part to the story and prepare for the second story arc. In the end, I've decided I will be continuing to write the story till at least the end of part two and then decide what I will be doing after that part. It might mean that this story gets run into the ground, but I'm going to keep at the project. Maybe it'll turn out great, maybe it won't.
> 
> This has been a major project for me, and I think that it at least deserves a conclusion. Beyond that, I have to consider what I am doing with Aaron and the others, if it means writing a separate story or moving on to something totally different. At the very least, the adventure will continue.
> 
> -Cobalt Lion


	16. Aftermath

Anatopism: An Alternate Universe Story

_Chapter 15: Aftermath_

**Three Days Later**

Aaron walked from the SWAT briefing room and wandered the back halls of the station. Evan followed him closely like some sort of stalker armed with coffee.

"You'll be okay though, right?" he asked, trailing Aaron with cups in both paws.

"Yeah, sure. I mean I've just got someone who put a hit out on me, and possibly someone else aiming at me through a scope whenever I go outside, and my two friends are trying to investigate the latest installment to the murder of the year club here. I'll be great." He said sarcastically. He grabbed one of the foam cups from Evan, and slammed the black liquid inside of it all at once.

"Uh, careful. It's hot," Evan stammered, watching him. "Have you even slept?"

"Not really. Maybe a few hours over the last few days. You know, I just can't help but think this is all tied together."

Evan pointed at him. "You don't know that," he stated sternly. "Let forensics handle all that. You worry about yourself."

Aaron turned back and started walking down the dimly lit carpeted hallway that led to the officer's workroom. "You know I went down to the morgue earlier today after drill. They didn't find any of that insanity serum in any of the victims."

"Yeah, Nighthowler Serum. Yeah, fine. That still doesn't support your paranoia at all. You need to get some rest or you're going to end up in bad shape. I know you think you're supposed to be taking care of everyone else's mental health during this, but we need you at full capacity here. Take a day off for once," Evan said, his voice hard.

Aaron had continued to come in each day even while Nick and Judy had taken the last few days at his orders to recover themselves. He drilled with the rest of the squad in grim silence and then would go back to the med bay and not be seen again till quitting time.

"I'll consider it. I need to go check on Judy and Nick, make sure they're doing okay." He plucked the remaining cup from Evan's other paw and headed into the workroom.

The workroom was lit sparsely to reduce glare on the computer monitors. A typical cubicle farm was arranged on a dark blue thin carpet. Officers sat at the stations going over files. Aaron walked to the far end of one of the rows where Nick sat at a desk reviewing videos from the Wonderland club. The screen was split into quarters, each showing feeds from a different camera.

Aaron set down the cup of coffee beside Nick and he turned around to acknowledge Aaron and the Captain. He still had that drained look to him, which Aaron knew was mirrored in his own face.

"I can't watch this. I can't look away either," He said to Aaron. Behind him the videos all played simultaneously.

"It's like a bad train wreck," Aaron agreed, looking at the screen.

On the monitors, the video reached its end and restarted from the beginning. Nick turned back to his computer and hit the spacebar, restarting the feeds from the beginning of the clip.

A round high-top table sat in the smoky room. Four wolves were gathered around the table. Three of them sat on stools, watching or listening to a fourth who was pouring out shots for them and laughing heartily. With no audio it was impossible to figure out if the fourth wolf was speaking, he stood with his back turned to the camera. The fourth wolf had a thin, malnourished appearance, unkempt fur and a hunched over neck. His poor physique was partly hidden by the full length trench coat he had slung over one shoulder. On another screen, the three cheetahs they had discovered on scene, dressed in almost identical athletic coats and jeans were sitting at another table. The one in the middle glowered at someone off screen. Other patrons were perched at other seats closer to the stage, mesmerized by a zebra who danced in scant clothing, rotating around a pole slowly.

The scene carried on, eventually reaching a peak. One of the cheetahs got up quickly, knocking the table over in the process. He leapt off camera and reappeared a moment later on the upper left end of the monitor screen like he had jumped from one end of the monitor to another. He pounced on the wolf in the chair closest to him, pinning him on the floor and punched him in the face, then bit down on his skull while the other two watched in amazement. He was immediately set upon by the other wolves, who ripped into him. A moment later the remaining pair of cheetahs were embroiled in the fight, which now spilled out onto the floor. The bouncer made it to them and was attacked by one of the wolves. Now the whole room was at it. Switchblades, claws and improvised weapons came out. The other patrons jumped into the attack, and then set on each other in the confusion and chaos. The fight spilled over the bar, where the last wolf was smashed in the face with a bottle by the donkey bartender and he was in turn dragged out from his post by a honey-colored camel armed with a knife. On and on the fight went. By the time it was over, hardly anyone was left alive, and those that were fled the ballroom in a panic.

The video ended mercifully, and was restarted. Aaron bit his lower lip, feeling his fangs dig into the skin. It really was like watching a bad wreck. Something you were just compelled to see, even when your mind screamed for you to turn away. Nick watched the screen, determined to find something in the incident that would help him find out what happened. He watched the wolves at the table. The standing one said something, and the other three howled in unison, heads tilted back.

"Wait!" Nick said, slamming the spacebar on his keyboard and pausing the video. "Wait, wait, wait. How did I not see that before?" He clicked on the quarter screen box and it expanded to fill the viewing area. Now the image of the wolves was larger, a freeze-frame of the chorus of the three howling wolves, with their fourth standing grimly in front of them. "Hey Carrots. I found something. Come here." A pair of dark tipped ears poked from over the cubicle wall in front of them.

Judy came plodding around the edge of the walls and joined the others. "What's up?" She asked, climbing onto the chair beside Nick to see on his desk. Nick reversed the video by a few seconds and hit the play button, reshowing the scene of the wolves. He looped the section and it repeated on its own. Judy looked at Nick, eyes wide.

"He's not howling," She said breathlessly. Aaron shook his head for a moment and watched the video cycle again. Judy was right, but he couldn't grasp the significance of why they were so intrigued by it.

"What am I missing here?" He finally asked.

Judy turned to him and pointed at the screen. "That one wolf. He isn't howling with the rest of them."

"I get that, but…so?" He tilted his head in confusion. Something was up here and he was missing it.

Nick looked at Aaron and Judy, giving them a slick grin for the first time in days. "Let me spell it out to you. Judy, of the few things we've seen Aaron here buy for himself at the apartment, what's the one thing he's never gotten? Something no feline would ever furnish a place without?"

Judy rubbed her chin, right foot tapping rapidly and snapped a finger. "Oh, I know! He doesn't have a scratcher."

"Exactly. Never got anything to sharpen his claws on." Nick said. At this statement, three other felinoid officers leaned out of their cubicles and stared at Aaron like he had forgotten to wear pants to work.

"How do you live with yourself?" Another tiger gave Aaron a look of disgust and went back to his work. Aaron looked around the room. Whatever the point of Nick and Judy's revelation was, he was completely lost in the conversation.

"What do you use to sharpen your claws on man?" Evan nudged Aaron in the back, still amazed that he didn't own what was for most cats considered basic living equipment.

"I guess I could get a nail file if I really needed to. Never really thought about it." Aaron answered, still wondering how the investigation had gotten derailed.

"Wow. Remind me to pick you one up next time I'm at the store. I'd go nuts if I didn't have something to work my claws on." Evan said, making an offer that almost sounded like one of sympathy rather than friendliness. Two of the other large cats in the room were still giving Aaron bizarre looks, like they'd never heard of such a mammal.

Aaron shrugged. "I guess I never thought of it. The compulsion just never struck me I suppose."

Nick clapped and pointed at Aaron. "That's what I'm talking about! You never scratch things. It's like instinct for cats, and this wolf isn't howling with the others. It's built into them. You can set off whole packs of these guys with a howl, but this dude isn't having it." He pointed at the lone wolf standing at the table.

"He's a refugee." Aaron said, the lightbulb going off in his head.

"You're sure?' Evan asked, watching the wolf.

Judy was nodding and grinning. "Think about it," she said,

"They don't have old instincts and behavior quirks like that because they aren't from here. Aaron doesn't claw, and this guy doesn't howl. It's not built into them like all the natural citizens."

The video played on its loop and now it was Aaron's turn to notice something. He tapped the screen with a finger on top of the lone wolf. "Hang on. Pause that." He reached over Nick and hit the spacebar again, halting the video. Something was off. He looked closely at the wolf.

"Run that forward real slow for me. I think I just noticed something."

Nick played the video at half speed. The wolf reached into his pocket of the worn out pants he was wearing, slapping several bills on the table, and then turned to walk away. The jacket he had slung over his shoulder shifted as he turned. He had on a white tank-top shirt beneath it, and the fur pattern on his back was visible. It was a black overlay on his dingy gray fur. The shaping sort of reminded Aaron of a German Shepherd Dog.

"Hold it right there," He ordered, and the video paused. He squinted at the wolf. "I know who that is."

Nick and Judy went wide eyed at the remark, looking at Aaron.

"Do you remember back on the day I graduated? That's the wolf that was up in the front row mean-mugging me. Watched me the whole time like I insulted his mom." He said, still fixated on the screen." I saw him a long time ago too. Back when I first moved in, I met up with Shay and the others at the park. He was there too. Glared at us from a park bench. I couldn't place where I'd seen him before at graduation, but now I recognize him."

"That's either coincidental…" Evan started, looking at the image.

"…or he's connected to everything," Judy finished his sentence, both of them turning to look at Aaron.

Aaron sucked on his lower lip, thinking. "It's strange though. I only remember seeing three wolves at the scene. Of course, I wasn't really looking very much after all that."

"Too bad what they say about the dead not telling tales," Evan commented.

Aaron started pacing again around the cubicle, and took another look at the monitor. The black backed wolf hung, frozen in time. "They don't, but sometimes you don't have to ask questions to get answers." He turned to leave the workroom. "I'll be back in a little while."

"Where are you going?" Asked Judy, jumping off the chair.

"To the morgue," he uttered quietly, walking briskly out the door.

* * *

The medical examiner's office was pleasantly decorated, and brightly lit. White and black tiles, designed to be easy to clean gave the floor a pattern that was bland easy on the eyes. The walls had an interesting selection of modern-looking art hung at regular intervals across the tan walls. Several walk in coolers were built into the far wall, opposite the door and labeled by animal size. The one of the far right, with 'giant' inscribed on the double doors took up almost half the wall itself. On the ceiling a combination of fluorescent bulbs and recessed lighting gave off a sunny glow inside.

Aaron walked to the office beside the entryway and knocked on the door. A wildebeest was seated behind a desk with a microscope as a centerpiece and a stack of papers beside him. He looked up at the door to see Nick, Judy and Aaron just outside the all-glass doorway. He stood up and waved them in.

"Dr. Nunez? Aaron Ledbetter; we spoke on the phone a while ago about—"

"Yes, I remember. I already told you I've only got some preliminary toxicology results back. I won't be around to autopsies for a little while. Was there something else you wanted?" Dr. Nunez made an odd grunting and whistling sound when he talked, like he had sinus trouble. He was large and shaggy, stuffed into a lab coat that didn't quite fit and a set of thick rimmed glasses balanced on the bridge of his wide nose.

Nick grinned up at the coroner and pointed his thumb at Aaron.

"Yeah, my friend here is heartless. Think you can figure out that medical mystery?"

He laughed at his own joke. Nunez just gave Nick a look that said he was too tired and busy for humor. Aaron inhaled deeply, smelling formaldehyde and disinfectant cleaner. He wasn't sure whether to laugh himself or have Nick submitted for being brainless.

"Actually, yes," Judy said, giving her best 'I'm an official' voice.

"We think you have somebody that we might be familiar with. We'd like to see…" She choked on the last words of her statement, realizing what she was about to ask to do. She wanted to see the case closed, but now had the sudden desire that she hadn't to leave. She wasn't sure why she decided to follow Aaron over here to satisfy his morbid inquisitiveness. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it seemed that the dead brought him back.

"Yeah, fine. Just make sure you wear gloves and don't leave fur in the wounds. Makes my job harder. Middle locker; close up when you're done." Dr. Nunez pointed to the cooler labeled 'large' and went back into his office, closing them off from him.

Aaron pushed into the middle of the autopsy exam room and opened the cooler door, Nick and Judy following him in. It was cool, but not freezing inside and lit by a set of three bare incandescent bulbs from above. The entire inside was stainless steel, sterile looking and somehow imposing in its hardness. An unusual smell permeated the air. It wasn't rot, but certainly not life either. Judy gagged at the scent, and Nick held his nose shut with a paw. Aaron simply stood there, mentally re-familiarizing himself to a smell he already knew well.

Thin-framed gurneys were lined up in regular intervals with tags on them: Names, species, dates of birth and case numbers. Aaron patrolled up and down the bodies in the relative gloom, looking for the wolves he had seen. He found them, all arranged in a row next to the three cheetahs that had fought them. It was like they had come to some sort of peaceful resolution only in death.

The first one was almost pure white, and Aaron ignored that. The other two were lying face up at in a column from each other's feet. Dirty gray coats. He looked at the second one, and pulled a set of exam gloves from his pocket.

"Help me out here. I got to look at his back," he said. Nick and Judy reluctantly approached the stretcher and held the wheels while Aaron lifted the body from the shoulders. It came free from the rubber matting with a sticky squelching sound, the head lolling back where his throat had been opened by something jagged. There was no pattern to his back, just a continuation of the dirty gray color, now mixed with congealed red. Aaron dropped him back down and went to the third victim.

Turning him over, Aaron found nothing about him revealing. Frustrated, he set the last wolf back down and stripped his gloves off, flinging them into a trash can. He left the cooler, taking a deep breath of relatively fresh air.

Back outdoors, Aaron stalked down the sidewalk. He was frustrated at not finding the fourth wolf, and felt like he had wasted an hour and a half of otherwise good work time chasing ghosts.

"What the hell do you even say to someone to get a bar fight going like that?" He said, grumbling as he walked, paws in his pockets.

"Well, you know how the felines and canines can get sometimes. Throw a little liquor into the mix, and it probably doesn't have to be much." Judy theorized, following Aaron.

"No, he's right." Nick said. "I'm trying to sort this all out in my mind. Some wolf comes in, buys drinks for a set of others, and leaves just before they get jumped by some cats."

"This had to be planned. I don't believe that they all came in that edgy," Aaron said.

"Hey, bet you could have sorted them all out," Judy made fists and shadowboxed in front of her for a few strokes, trying to lighten the mood.

"Sure, or I could have gotten stabbed in the eye with a beer bottle." Aaron said. "I'm going to head back to the station and get some actual work done. I'll see you when I get off shift." He walked onward with them quietly, thoughts still swirling about the fourth wolf. He was going to figure out who it was if it killed him.

* * *

**Three Days Later**

The day was still young when Aaron left the SWAT briefing room and headed out to the lobby, cutting through the cubicle farms inside the offices. Nick and Judy were sharing desk space, Judy leaving through a stack of profile pages on various mammals that were in the police database.

Aaron leaned on the wall of the cubicle, looking down at their work. "I'm making a coffee run across the street. We've got an all-day meeting coming up over the increased violence in the area and what it means for our team. Want to come?" He asked, peering over Judy's ears which brushed against his chin.

Nick snapped his head up. He was almost falling asleep at his computer, and the mention of caffeine got his attention.

"Yeah. That sounds perfect." He stretched and yawned.

"Some sunshine would probably help too."

"Unless sunshine is a new light roast they have, it's a secondary concern of mine. Let's go. Raz gets cranky if you don't keep him hopped up on stimulants." He headed for the door with Judy and Nick.

Twenty minutes later, the three stood in line at the coffee shop waiting for whatever absurdly complicated half-caf, de-foamed, extra whip sin against coffee beans the giraffe in front of them had ordered.

"I don't suppose that we ever figured out who that other shooter was from the other week, did we?" Aaron asked Judy somewhat absent-mindedly. He was simultaneously looking at a list for all the orders that the rest of the SWAT team had requested, talking and texting back and forth with Shay.

Judy shook her head, ears flapping with the motion. "Detectives did a sweep of the area. They sent in that fur sample they found to forensics, but it didn't come back with any hits. Either they're otherwise squeaky clean or they haven't gotten caught before," She looked up at the counter, judging the line. The coffee shop was filled with mid-morning customers, packed tightly into the dark wood decorated room. Abstract images of animals painted in bright colors were hung on the wall, and ghosts of their images reflected off the wall sized window that made up the front of the building. Across the street, the ZPD main building stood like a crown, officers and civilians coming in and out. Judy noticed a hyena in dirty street clothes walk push her way into the front doors, looking over her shoulder the whole time.

Some minutes later, Judy pushed open the door of the shop, holding it open for Nick and Aaron who balanced drink holders filled with hot liquids in disposable cups. Nick fumbled his way out the door, his face blocked by an absurdly tall cup of latte and almost tripped over the doorjamb, recovering himself at the last minute. They made it across the busy road safely, with some honking of horns on either side of them at points and came back into the main lobby.

Across the shining marble floor, at the main desk Clawhauser was bent over the counter, talking to the same hyena that Judy had seen a while ago. She was dressed in raggedy clothes: a faded red top with frayed sleeves, and a pair of ripped jean shorts that looked like they may have been a set of full pants at some point before they filtered their way down to the secondhand store. She topped the whole enable off with a brown blanket that she had wrapped her body and head in, despite the warm weather outside. She practically screamed homeless and lost. She spoke with Clawhauser, looking over her shoulder every few minutes like she was afraid of someone following her in, and occasionally watching the box of donuts on the counter, licking her lips.

Clawhauser noticed Judy and Nick before anyone else, and got an excited look on his face. He came running out from behind the desk and over to them, fat jiggling in his uniform and almost ran into Aaron.

"Oh, hey. Hey! Judy. I'm so glad you're back." He smiled widely in delight. "There's some girl here that wants to talk to an officer."

He pointed to the cloaked hyena. "She won't tell me what it's about but says it's really important. I thought you might have the time? Look at her. She's all sad and lonely." He gave a sympathetic frown to the hyena that was still at the desk, an ear uncovered so she could listen in on the conversation.

Aaron could hardly maintain his balancing act any more. He walked over to the front desk and set the four-hole cup holder down. When he turned around, he found himself looking down into the face of the hyena that was waiting. She had dark brown eyes that were faintly bloodshot and her face was light brown, shot through with strips of black around the cheekbones. A small white patch of fur stuck out on the tip of her chin. She looked up at Aaron and her eyes went wide. She opened her mouth in shock like she was going to scream, her white fangs showing, but instead a whispered exclamation came out.

"You," She said and scrambled backwards, her makeshift hood catching under her feet wrapping under them. She fell to the floor with a solid thump and looked like she was about to cry.

"Woah, hey there! It's okay, I don't bite," Aaron said comfortingly, extending a paw to help her up. She looked away from him and then back, taking his paw like it might explode on her and got to her feet. Over to the side, Judy and Nick came over as quickly as they could manage.

"Now's what's going on? Can I help you? Are you hurt?" Aaron said. The hyena looked at the three officers carefully and then burst into tears.

"I know who you ares" she sobbed. The sound drew the attention of a few other police officers in the building who skittered away from the desk like her emotions were contagious. Aaron looked at her again, trying to place the face. Judy and Nick were staring at the two of them now. Aaron reached out slowly and pulled back the blanket she had wrapped herself with, uncovering her head. Her ears were erect and pointed but rounded at the base, and the entire muzzle an ashy black. The picture started to come back to him now. Sitting in the group therapy room at the hospital, a hyena in a chair across at one end of the circle, next to Farr.

"My name is Hanna," she said.

* * *

Judy, Nick and Hanna sat in one of the interrogation rooms.

"Now look, you aren't in any trouble. We've been looking for you for a while now. You disappeared and we just wanted to make sure you're safe." Judy stood beside Hanna, a paw on her leg, speaking slowly and calming.

"It's awful. He won't let us leave. Just keeps us all up in the camp on the mountain and talks about how we're going to 'make a place for ourselves,'" Hanna leaned wearily on the table in front of her, sniffling.

"Who is he dear?" Judy asked.

Just as Hanna was about to answer the door opened and Aaron walked in with his medic's backpack, a brown paper bag and a thermos filled with cold water. He dumped the contents of the paper bag in front of Hanna. A sandwich and bag of dried meat strips fell out on the table and he filled one the cup lid of the thermos with water.

"I brought you some food. You look like you haven't had much to eat." He said, stepping back a bit. Hanna looked suspiciously at the meal in front of her then tore into the sandwich.

"Where'd you find all that?" Nick asked from his seat.

"I bought lunch with me," Aaron explained. "I figured this was more important."

Hanna ate greedily for a moment, crumbs falling onto the stainless steel table. They watched her eat for a moment, amazed that one of their missing refugees had simply appeared at their doorstep.

"I remember you now from the hospital Hanna. That was a while ago." Aaron said as she ate. She looked at him briefly, nodded and went back to eating.

"You said someone was keeping you someplace? Who was it? Did they take you against your will?" Judy asked gently when Hanna had finished plowing through the food.

"No, he didn't take me. I went with him. He seemed so nice at first. He was all kind and sweet to me. Took me places around the city. He said that he had a safe place for all of us to stay, away from the city where we could be ourselves."

"Who was this? Can you tell me about him? Give me a name?" Nick asked, a notepad in front of him.

"This wolf. His name was Brian he said," Hanna answered, chewing on the dried meat strips. Nick and Aaron exchanged glances.

"If I showed you a photo, would you recognize him? Nick said slowly.

"Yeah, I guess so." Hanna shrugged.

Nick walked out of the room with a gesture, leaving the three others in the room. He came back a minute later with a few sheets of paper. They had printed pictures of the frames taken at Wonderland, showing the four wolves seated around the table. The mystery fourth wolf was faced more towards the camera in one, showing his face in profile and the distinctive black pattern on his back under his shirt. He slid the papers in front of Hanna and spread them out and she studied them for a moment before tapping the fourth wolf on the back with a claw tip.

"That's him right there. That's Brian Graham."

At the mention of the name Aaron felt all the blood drain from his head, making him dizzy. The room spun for a second. He breathed in and out several times heavily, and walked over to Hanna, leaning over her.

"You're sure? He said that was his name?" He asked, feeling unsteady.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it," Hanna said.

Aaron slammed both his paws on the table, making everyone in the room jump. "No!" He hollered. He paced around the room twice; paws balled into fists and then punched the acrylic window so hard it vibrated.

"No! This wasn't supposed to happen! How did he get here? He was supposed to be safe," He went back to his seat at the far end of the table and slumped down in the chair, squeezing his fists against his eyes.

Hanna started to cry again in fear. "Please, don't be mad at me sir. I didn't know! It wasn't my fault." She wept.

"It's okay. It's all right. You didn't do anything." Judy hurriedly tried to calm the hyena. "Aaron, what's going on? Do you know who that is?"

Aaron rocked his head back and forth, mumbling. "He was supposed to be safe. I helped him. He was supposed to have gotten away."

"Who?" Judy demanded. The whole room was getting out of hand now. "Who was that?"

"Brian-freaking-Graham. How could this happen? I thought this whole time I'd helped him get away from it. He was supposed to be safe," Aaron groaned, dropping his forehead on the table.

Judy and Nick were now both looking intensely at Aaron, waiting for an explanation.

Aaron took a deep breath and composed himself. "Brian was an associate of mine. He was with me when the…whatever happened. The Portal Storms on our end. I was trying to help him get away from the site. I thought he made it." Aaron looked up. "It was his first day. He was just starting with me in at the research center on base. We'd barely gotten to even say hello. He came out all the way to work with us on the project. I tried to save him."

"Save him from what? Is that why he's so mad at you?" Hanna asked, shrunk back down in her chair."

""Mad at me?" Aaron repeated incredulously. "For what? For trying to make sure he got out safe?"

"He said this whole thing was your fault. That you did this to us."

Aaron rubbed his temples with his thumbs. He could feel a vicious headache setting in. He had a million questions he wanted to ask, and nobody that could answer them.

"Don't be mad, please," Hanna begged. "I'm only nineteen. I've never been away from home. I've never even been outside of Johannesburg but once."

Aaron looked up suddenly at Hanna, his eyes were wide and he could feel them pulsing in his head.

"Johannesburg?" He said.

"It's a city. In South Africa, where I'm from," She explained like he was a graduate flunky.

"I know where Johannesburg is. But that means…" He trailed off, his thoughts becoming even more chaotic with all the new implications her statement meant.

"It means what?" Judy demanded. She felt like she had lost control of the room, and wasn't going to let Aaron's hair-trigger temper and confusion make it worse.

"It means the portals weren't just where I was. They were global. They could have affected the whole planet.

"I remember this weird storm was going on. That's when it all gets fuzzy for me." Hanna explained.

"Weird storm. That's the understatement of the century." Aaron stood up, looked closely at the picture of Brian at the club and headed for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Judy said, heading after him.

"I'm leaving. Tell the chief I went home. I can't deal with this right now." He said, and walked out the door, shoulders hunched and paws in his pockets like he'd just gotten news someone had kicked his dog.

* * *

Judy arrived at the apartment with Nick, tired and irritated. The rest of her day following their meeting with Hanna had gone almost as well as the meeting itself had. Chief Bogo had for some reason placed the fault for Aaron walking out on them, and subsequent phone calls to him had gone unanswered. They had found a safe place for the hyena to stay and dug deeper into the Brian Graham story, but turned up little. He didn't exist in their database, meaning he had managed to live outside the grid for over six months at this time. They had no further information on what had happened at the club, or who the second sniper was from the incident weeks back. It led back to Aaron as the common denominator in both cases and she dreaded how he was going to react to the problems. She didn't understand how he could be so open and friendly while still being dour and closed at the same time.

She opened the door with the most serious look she could muster, and walked in, Nick behind her. Aaron was sitting on the couch, still dressed in his uniform and wads of crumpled papers at his feet. He was talking on his cell phone when they walked in the front door. He glanced up at them briefly.

"They're home. I'll talk to you later…You too." He hung up the phone and tossed it on the couch cushion beside him with a sigh.

"You owe us an explanation," Judy said stepping forward. Aaron stood up and paced the room.

"An explanation huh? I feel like the entire world owes me one." Aaron said, grumbling.

"Where do I even start with this mess? I guess let me start with the big part: I don't know what the deal is with Brian. This whole time I thought there was nobody I knew here. I thought he was safe. I don't know why he's angry at me, and what that has to do with him at the nightclub. Maybe he's like the rest of us. Frustrated and lonely. I didn't have anything to do with us coming here, I promise. I guess he doesn't see it that way."

Nick leaned back on the opposite wall beside the door. "Everyone's gotta have someone to take their anger out on."

"But why?" Judy wondered out loud. "What did you do that would make him think that?"

Aaron shrugged. "I'm not sure. I didn't even know him that well. I interviewed him a few times over the phone, and met him once. He seemed perfectly normal. Polite, well adjusted. He was very good at talking to people, getting them to agree to things. I thought he would make a good clinician for our project. I don't know what would make him blame me for what happened to all of us. I was trying to make sure he got away safely from it all. I guess it's because I was there. I was right beside the center of it all when it went down."

Judy looked Aaron in the face, ears down and brow furrowed.

"What was it though? What did you do?"

"That's just it! I don't know," Aaron threw his paws in the air. He stopped, and calmed. "I was working on a military base. We did very top secret research. It wasn't always pretty. There were some things that went on there that I'm not proud of to have been a part of. I just tried to keep up with my work and not think too hard about the why of what I was doing. We worked next to some major technology project, but nobody ever told us what it was. It broke, I think. I'm not sure. I just remember running from something. I always assumed that what happened to me was just us. It only affected everyone near us. Hearing Hanna say where she was from, that means I was wrong."

"It's not bad to be wrong. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes," Judy said consolingly.

"You don't understand. This wasn't some mistake. It changes everything about what I thought happened. South Africa was on the side of the world from me. This event could have happened over the entire globe. Do you get what I'm saying? This whole time I'd been under the illusion that that whatever happened was only near by me. The place I worked next to could have ended the world. This wasn't just us, it was everywhere." He slumped back down on the couch. "Now I've got someone who thinks that I caused all this. He's not right, but maybe we are to blame for it."

"You think he's the one that sent the shooter after us?" Nick said, chewing on a pen.

"Knowing what I know now, and thinking back to all the times I've seen him, lurking on the sidelines? I'm sure of it." Aaron said, nodding.

"Then we have to go stop him!" Judy exclaimed. "We need to get him before something else happens again."

"Easy there fluff." Nick said, holding a paw out like the gesture would clear her excitement. "We don't even know where this guy is."

"He's out there looking for me. If he wants me that bad, he'll find me." Aaron said, slumped into the couch like a derelict building.


	17. What it's Like to Believe

Aaron knocked on the door to Shay's place and stood up straight, trying to make himself look presentable but casual. He held a bouquet of flowers in his right paw. The red tulips were some sort of specially grown hybrid, and the petals were streaked with veins of dark blue that traveled up the outside of the flowers. The smell of them reminded him of his mother's garden when he was young.

Mary opened the door for him. She was wearing a flowing sundress that looked brand new. It waved in the air light breeze outside. She looked at the flowers and smiled with a sweet, dreamy expression.

"Oh, for me?" she said. "That's so kind of you. Randy never brings me flowers anymore."

"That's because you'd eat them, dear!" Randall yelled from the communal kitchen down the hall. He leaned out the entryway, looking at them. He wore a white, pressed shirt with a badge on the chest and patches on the shoulders.

"You two make such a lovely couple," Aaron yelled back. Randall had taken a job doing private security for a bank a little bit ago, something Aaron took joy in endlessly ribbing Randall about after the hard time he'd given him over joining the police department.

"I take it you're here to see Shay?" Mary asked, letting Aaron in the front door. They both looked up the stairs to the second floor with the bedrooms.

"If I said that I'm secretly dating your landlady on the side, do you think Shay would be upset?" Aaron joked.

Mary gave him a disappointed look that was betrayed by her smile. "I think I'd have to help hold you down while she beat you."

Mary laughed and Aaron joined her. The moment of humor passed, and Aaron went up the stairs to the first room on the right at the top and opened the door.

Shay stood next to her dresser, with a casual t-shirt on and no pants. At the sound of the door squeaking open she jumped and turned around, covering herself with a pair of jeans. "Geez! Don't you ever knock?" she scolded Aaron, her back to the window.

Aaron gave her a mischievous grin. "I'm not the one who changes clothes in front of an open window. What would the neighbors think?"

Shay pulled her set of tight jeans on, pulling the waist closed and sucking her breath in. "You can't go sneaking up on me like that." She came and gave Aaron a slight shove. "Ready to go?"

"Just a second. I brought you something." Aaron said, holding the wrapped bouquet out for her like he was a love-struck teenager. Shay took them and buried her muzzle in the middle of the flowers, inhaling deeply.

"They're beautiful. Where did you get them?"

"Would you believe me if I said that I grew them at the apartment with months of careful planning and a vast knowledge of horticulture?" he said with a bright, toothy grin.

"Not at all."

"Okay, then in that case I found them at a flower shop down the road." He hung his head, pretending to look saddened.

"That's better." Shay said. She smiled warmly, an expression that never seemed to fail to make Aaron's heart melt. She placed the plants in a glass cylinder sitting on the bookshelf and hugged against Aaron. Her fur was soft and pleasantly warm.

"So, why don't we go and get some sunshine? I wanted to ask you something anyway." Aaron let her go and opened the door. They walked down the stairs and outside onto the streets.

* * *

The street festival was crowded, colorful, and invitingly noisy. Banners hung at the end of a road welcoming visitors to the food and art festival that ran for the next few days. A circular nexus of streamers flew over the middle of the street, multi-colored strips of fabric that reached out in all directions to touch the buildings on the sides of the street, like it could extend happiness to the structures at a touch. The sidewalks were lined with white topped tents, most of them staffed by vendors, artists, cooks and other assorted craftsmen. The air smelled heavily of spiced food and flowers, mixed with motor oil and the familiar musky scent of animals.

Shay walked down the middle of the street, stepping in small puddles of settled rainwater and spillage along the curb, her arm wrapped around Aaron's. He was looking around distractedly, his mood having changed from the lighthearted and loving that it had been back home to paranoid and irritable the longer they walked. His eyes darted left and right, inspecting every single animal that passed by them on the crowded throughway. She led him through the swarming mass and found a small wrought metal table with two open chairs outside a café, near a small tent selling paintings. She pressed Aaron down into a seat and he looked around nervously for a moment before deciding he was safe and relaxing slightly. He almost immediately stood back up and walked away.

"I'm going to get us some drinks, Don't go anywhere," he said, disappearing into the café.

 _Like I've got anywhere to go, s_ he thought as he departed. She sat quietly pouting, arms crossed over her chest and waited. It was an otherwise beautiful day outside, the kind where she used to take her kids outside and watch them play in the park the whole day. A few lofty clouds traversed the bright blue sky lazily. The sunlight illuminated the colored banners, tents and signs of the street festival, making the vinyl tops of the varied stalls shimmer as they flapped in the light, warm breeze. Mammals passed by the singly occupied table, eyeing Shaena and carrying on with off-putting expressions of pity for the young lady sitting by herself.

Aaron returned after a few awkward moments with a pair of glasses of red wine. He set them down, looked over his shoulder once again and then settled on the chair across from Shay. He placed the glass to his nose and sniffed deeply. He held his breath for a moment and let it out in a slow whooshing sound and relaxed somewhat.

Shay watched him as his tense posture in his shoulders let out like he had melted internally a bit. "Well, you know how to pick a nice place and good wine. So what's got you all keyed up hon?" She leaned on the table and wrapped her forearms around her wine glass, holding the stem of the light blue cut glass in her paws.

Aaron sighed and took a large swig like he was taking a shot before making a major speech. "Where do I start? I've been asking myself that all week. There's so much I want to ask you. So many things I found out that threw my world upside down again."

Shay looked around at the mammals passing by on the street. A miniature herd of antelope walked by, laughing and talking. One of them held an ice cream cone in a hooved appendage and the ice cream fell from the top of the cone. He watched it fall with a frown and then laughed again; heading on down the street, weaving between festival goers headed the opposite way.

"If this doesn't count as having your world flipped around enough, I don't see how anything else can faze you."

"There's so much more to that now though," Aaron paused for a moment, looking over his shoulder again and sucking down some more of his drink. The dark red wine stained the fur around his muzzle purple. "We found one of the missing. We found Hanna."

Shay's eyes lit up and she almost knocked her glass over. "That's great!" she exclaimed. "Where was she?"

"Well, I shouldn't say we found her. She found us, walked right into the station. She's safe now. That's what started all the problems."

"I see. Does this have something to do with why you keep looking over your shoulder every few seconds?" Shay said to Aaron, catching him off-guard from inspecting a crowd of folks listening to a violin player a few dozen feet away on the opposite side of the street. The sweet but mournful sounds of the music drifted towards the two felines as they sat outside in the sunlight, enjoying their drinks. It was almost enough to make her imagine they were on a romantic getaway in Paris, not some street festival in downtown with her lover who acted like he was about to get attacked from behind the whole time they were outside.

"Ah, sort of," Aaron took another fast look around him and looked at Shay. "She left town with someone named Brian Graham."

"So what's the problem with that?" Shay asked.

"He's…" Aaron stammered. "Do you remember way back when we first reconnected in the park? There was a wolf there."

Shay put her paws skyward and shrugged her shoulders. "So? There are wolves everywhere here. They seem pretty common. It's not like that's unusual." She indicated the crowds around her. There were indeed several other wolves that roamed around in singles or small packs, none of them paying any attention to them.

"He was there again at my graduation. Sat and glared at me the whole time. We saw him again. He was on camera at the club massacre the other week," he said, taking another overly large gulp of wine. Shay looked Aron in the eyes, and grabbed his paw.

"You're sure it was the same one? Look, I'm sorry. I know that was hard to go into. You aren't used to having to deal with that kind of thing."

The killings at the Wonderland club had been on the news for days afterwards at prime time. The public had figuratively eaten the story up, following it with intense scrutiny over the horrible and seemingly unprovoked violence. It had brought back several discussions both on the internet and in the media about the safety of predators in public society. Aaron had been doing his best to avoid the media and public scrutiny, but she could see the effects of the events were wearing on him. The jumpiness and his obvious lack of sleep were becoming harder for him to conceal, and had become more readily observable now that they were out in public.

Aaron looked at Shay, eyes half closed in thought. "I've done terrible things in my past, Shay. I think I may have done something that tops even those things. I think I might have done something to someone I know and now I'm paying for it."

"What are you talking about?" Shay was now thoroughly confused. She watched Aaron who held her paw tightly like she would fly away if he let go.

"The work I did at the research center before all this," He indicated the world around him in a frustrated swing of his head. "I don't know what we were doing, but I'm sure it couldn't have been for anything good. That's not the important part though. Brian was this guy I hired. I was getting worked to death out there and the project team lead gave me the authority to hire another nurse to do sample collection and processing. I hired this guy from Montana named Brian Graham. Convinced him to move out to where we were and help out of the process. Basically promised him some great things if he could help us. It was his first day when the storms happened. I thought I'd helped him make it out safe, but now I found out I didn't. Now he's out there somewhere and looking for me. Everywhere he goes, chaos springs up. I think he's behind it, and I think he's doing it to get to me."

Shay dropped her chin toward her chest. "You think you caused all of this to happen?"

Aaron let go of her and threw his hands up, his frustration reaching a high boil. "I don't know!" He sighed and looked at the pavement, feet scraping the ground where he shuffled them in a restless motion. "I don't think it was us. I think it might have been one of the projects we worked next to, but I can't prove it. I just know that when the alarms went off, things happened. Then I woke up here an eternity later."

"Brian was supposed to be back safe, but now he's out there and Hanna told me he's looking for me. I can't say for sure, but I think now that he's the one that sent the sniper after us that night. It all makes what that bear said make sense."

"Aaron, he's dead. You already know who was shooting at us, and he's gone. We're safe," Shay said firmly, trying to calm him.

"We never found the other shooter though. We never figured out who hired that bear, or who shot him."

"So what's wrong with believing in having some sort of guardian angel?" she asked.

Aaron shook his head. "I don't believe in that stuff. People aren't good and neither are the rest of these animals. It's just not in the nature of thinking creatures to do good for the sake of being good. If someone else was protecting me, it's because they had a reason to make sure I survived. I can't believe that it was just to be there to help me."

"You've got a pretty dim view of humanity, don't you?" Shay chided him, her patience with this talk growing thin. She couldn't bring any comfort to someone who didn't want to admit that there was good in the world, even if it was a different world now.

"I do. I've seen the worst of behavior that both worlds have to offer now. They are no better here than we were back home. If someone was protecting me, it's because they want something, and I can't think it's good. All I'm saying is this: I know Graham is out there someplace, looking for me. Hanna told Judy that he was hanging out somewhere in the hills around the city, but she couldn't say exactly where. I just know that if he comes back, death is going to follow him." He closed his eyes and visions of the club at night flashed through his memory. He saw a torn shirt, shredded with glass and highlighted in the blood of the only semi-innocent as it glowed in purple neon light. He could smell the cloying scent of blood mixed with vodka.

"Maybe we did bring this all with us. We come here, and all these things happen. Worst killing the city has seen in years. Maybe we deserve whatever happens to us here," he said, eyes still closed.

"I'm just going to point out something you seem to have forgotten," Shay poked a clawed finger at Aaron, snapping him back to reality.

"What's that?" he asked, eyes bleary as though he had just woken up.

"Maybe this kind of thing comes with being who we are. Maybe it just comes with evolution or being intelligent, or society. There was something else to being human though. There was love and forgiveness. There was being kind to people without having an ulterior motive for everything. There was being a good person." Shaena grabbed at Aaron again, and he took a deep breath. He stood up, tossing back the rest of his wine before joining her.

"There was so much more to it than just Graham," he said. They walked away from the table and weaved between the clumps of animals inspecting the small stalls lining the sidewalk .

"So talk to me about it. Quit trying to be mister stoic and speak to me."

Aaron walked on, clutching Shay by the arm protectively and not saying anything back as they walked. They came to an empty canopy and he stopped, letting go of her and leaning in close. He started to say something to her, then stopped and sputtered.

"Where were you from Shay? I mean, before all of this," he asked as if he would possibly not know the answer to where she was from following the storms.

"Montreal, why?" she asked, looking at Aaron out of the side of her eyes. He flinched and bent over like he had been punched.

"It was everywhere. She was right," he groaned.

"What do you mean?"

"Hanna! She was right. This just confirms it." He shivered.

"Listen, I told you before about it, but I was down in central Georgia in the United States when the storms hit us. I thought all this time that the storms were something local. We had done something at the military base that caused this to erupt and everyone here was from in the local area. You were over a thousand miles away from us though. Hanna was from practically the other side of the world."

"I think I remember her saying that. I mean, I thought you knew where I was from?" Shay asked rhetorically. She thought back to all the conversations they'd had over the months. It was that problem of them both talking a lot of but not really saying much of importance. Had they ever talked about their hometowns?

"Do you think there is anyone left? Did we just scour the Earth of life? Is everyone gone?" Aaron's worried questions rose a sense of fear in Shay as she thought about her two boys floating in that endless darkness that existed in between worlds. She shook her head, re-centering herself mentally. It wasn't possible, was it? No.

"Look, we couldn't have. You even said one time, there sounded like there was maybe a few hundred of us in the city, a thousand at most. There is no way that over seven billion people ended up here and we only found a tiny fraction of them. Think about that for a moment. You're better at math than that." She hugged him closely, eyes wide and tried to calm her internal voice that told her to panic. Aaron was looking up at the sky, eyes closed against the glare of the sunlight of a perfectly beautiful day.

"No. You're right. It couldn't have been. It just leaves so many questions about what happened to us all, and I don't think I'm ever going to get answers to them." He wrapped his arms around her torso, clutching herself close to him. The casual looking shirt he wore rubbed against his fur with a whispering sound as he breathed. Shay rested her ear against his chest and listened to his heart beat. It was a strong, assured sound with a rapid pace that underlaid swirling fear.

"Just concentrate on what you do know." She looked up at him. "We're here. You know where we are now, even if we are different. You know you have me. You know I love you."

Aaron dipped his chin down and kissed her between the ears. "I know. I'm endlessly grateful for that. Why do we love each other though?" He brought his head back up and looked around, quizzically.

"What do you mean, 'why'?" she asked him.

"I mean, why do we love each other. You know I'm attracted to you inside and out. Is it because of what happened to us? Where we're from? Is it because we're, well…" He indicated their bodies.

Shay looked at herself, her fur was darkly reflective in the sunlight, and the faint ring pattern that blended on her coat stood out more in the sunshine. "Because we're both cats?"

Aaron nodded. "Yeah. I mean, if we weren't both relatively the same genus would we still love each other? Would we have cared to be together? Is it some animal thing? Is it because we're both similarly situated?

Shay rubbed her face. "Don't do this to me Aaron. You analyze everything around you and it's one of the worst things about you. You have to have a reason for everything around you and you won't relax and just let the world be. Why does everything have to have an explanation with you?" She felt like she was either going to cry or have to slap Aaron across his stupid, over-analyzing face.

"Can't it just be because I love you? Does it have to have some biological explanation? Why do you have to question us? Feelings don't always have a reason. I can't have you drive a wedge between us because you want answers to all of existence. Just accept that we love one another and let it be."

"I…I'm sorry," he stuttered, turning away from her, arms crossed. She thought he wasn't going to let it go and that would be the end of them as a couple. She couldn't let herself be all alone again. Just when she thought it was over, he turned back and hugged her.

"I'm sorry. I'm terrible at this. I do love you. I'm just so confused about everything. I'm awful at feelings. I'm not good at relating to people, and I'm sorry. You deserve better from me."

Shay leaned on him. "You were the only one who had anything good to say to me the night the portals opened. Everyone around me was so concerned about doing their jobs and controlling the situation. It was so confusing, and nobody could even be concerned about us as individuals. You were the only one who said anything to make me feel better. You showed you cared right then," she said in a soft voice, rubbing her paws down his arms.

"No, you're right. I do care. I care about you and I'll always be with you. I'll keep you safe. So what does this make us?" Aaron said, looking down at her.

"How about a couple? Now, why don't we go back to my place? Get out of here and just relax somewhere not so crowded," she suggested.

"What do you want to do?"

Shay eyed him seductively. "I'm sure we can find something we both enjoy."


	18. A Dawn to End All Nights

Aaron got up from his desk and turned off the lights to the med room at the station. The door was closed and he was left in the darkened room for the moment, the room bathed in a dim red glow from the digital clock hanging on the wall. The reflective layer of his retinas enhanced the glow brightening the room enough for him to find the door and he walked down the hall towards the locker rooms. As he passed a perpendicular corridor, a phone-preoccupied Nick nearly ran into him.

"Hey! Ready to get out of here?" he quipped, walking beside Aaron.

"I've been ready to leave since before I got here this morning," Aaron said, briskly walking to the lockers.

"Yeah, I hear you," Nick agreed.

"You gonna head home and actually get some rest tonight?"

Aaron shook his head and pushed the door of the male's locker room open.

"I'm taking Shay to dinner. Going to find someplace nice. I've got some stuff I need to make up for."

Nick clicked his tongue. "Got yourself in trouble, eh?"

"What can I say? I'm not the best at dealing with feelings. Nothing I can't fix though. She deserves that much at least."

Raz was inside, changing from his riot gear and into a black shirt with a large flaming boar skull design on the back. It was apparent from their time working together that he took his perceived badassery seriously even away from the station. He paused as Aaron and Nick entered.

"Well, well. It's the damn dream team for the Zootopia Police Force!" he said in a loud voice as they entered. Aaron just grunted and opened his locker.

"You know Raz? You aren't that bad. You're only really annoying when you breathe," Nick quipped with a sly smile, going to the other side of the locker banks. Aaron cringed slightly at the fox's comment, afraid for a moment that Raz would take his easily-detonated temper out on him. He wasn't sure he had the mental wherewithal to hold himself back from not doing something stupid tonight. His patience had grown short as of late. All he wanted tonight was to go out and have an evening without something going off in his face. In a hopeful sign that things would be okay, Raz simply made a hacking sound like he was going to spit on someone or something and shut his locker.

"Field drills on Monday morning kitty. Don't be late and don't disappoint me," Raz said with a scowl as he left, trying his best to slam the pneumatic piston on the door.

"Wow. If there was ever a face in need of plastic surgery, there it went," Nick said as Raz left.

"Besides saving him from a burning building, I'm not sure anything I do is going to impress him," Aaron said, watching him go. He wondered if that scenario would smell like cooking bacon. He finished dressing in a better shirt, stuffing the rest of his gear into a backpack and slinging it on his back.

Nick had changed back into his usual casual clothing and was refilling his pockets with an assortment of odd and ends in his back pocket. Aaron never understood why he seemed to carry bits of useless material with him, but he'd never brought it up either. He kept his pockets mostly clean. Anything else got in the way of his basic every day carry kit, which at the moment was little more than a cell phone, wallet, and a pen.

Out in the main lobby, Judy was waiting for them both. She had dressed in what Aaron would have described as "fashionable country" if he'd been asked, which he hadn't. A red and white bow was pinned to her right ear with the aid of a hairpin, and she had a button-down green shirt on, the top two buttons undone.

"Ears," Aaron nodded regarding Judy with a smile. "I'm out of here. I'll be back later tonight."

"Alright, tell Shay we said hello!" Judy smiled and headed for the door.

Nick called over his shoulder. "Hey, bring back leftovers! We're running out of groceries," he said.

Aaron just nodded and stepped out into the night air, turning the opposite way of Judy and Nick in the dimming twilight sky.

* * *

Aaron walked alone down the streets, fur glinting and darkening as he passed in and out of the glow of streetlamps. The roads were as busy as usual, and headlights cut through the darkness of the streets, making Aaron squint. He arrived outside Shay's home, no flowers to bring this time, but the hope that a nice quiet dinner and some drinks would soothe both their troubled minds for at least the night.

The door was cracked open at the front of the housing unit. Aaron paused at the door, concerned. Given this part of downtown was considered "less than desirable" as most realtors would have probably termed it, the landlady that he had met now a few times never left the door unlocked and open. He usually had to knock loudly and wait for the deadbolts to be undone or give Shay some forewarning of his arrival. He'd sent a few text messages to her but gotten no reply since he had confirmed their meeting earlier in the day. Perhaps she was just getting ready. He pushed the door open with creaking squeal and stepped inside. It was dark inside; none of the lights in the building were on. He leaned his head in the hallway and called out.

"Shay? You in there?" he yelled. No answer. Just the sound of cars on the road. "Miss Weathers?" The antelope that served as the landlady and administrator was almost always present at the home; her advanced age meant she didn't leave the house much. She didn't answer either. Aaron pushed the door open fully and walked inside, his foot scraping against something on the floor. He flipped the light switch on the hallway on and gasped.

The hallway was ransacked. A picture had been torn from the wall, its frame was broken and shattered glass sparkled on the floor near the worn, dirty floorboards. The unpolished wood floor has a set of deep scratches that he had stepped on, the splinters from the marks digging into his foot.

"Hello, anyone in here? Randall? Mary?" he yelled again. He pushed forward slowly, wishing he was armed. Claws out, he pushed around the corner to the kitchen. The room was a mess of dirty dishes and old, faded black and white linoleum tiles. Pots, pans, and cooking utensils were strewn about the floor. A butcher's knife was embedded in the drywall of the kitchen.

Instead of calling for help right away, he ran up the stairs to Shay's room. The room had been turned upside down. The mattress on the bed partly pulled off its frame, and the contents of the bookshelf scattered across the floor. The window was cracked and a bouquet of wilted red and blue flowers lay in a puddle of spilled water and broken glass. He was about to run back downstairs when he noticed something stuck to the displaced mattress next to a small splotch of blood.

_Mr. Ledbetter,_

_Great to get to see you again, even if it is under poor circumstances. If you would be interested in seeing your friend, please come to Lux Mountain Park. I've included directions for you so you won't get lost. I really do hope to get a chance to talk to you before the end of everything you've done to both of us. I'm sure I'm supposed to give you some threat about what will happen if you don't come alone, but I know you better than that, I think. Just know that we outnumber you and that I think it would be in your jaguar's best interests if you comply with my request._

_-BG_

A small, hand drawn map was attached to the note, showing rough directions to one of the large foothills that surrounded Zootopia on three sides. He picked the map up gingerly and felt that his sudden rage would ignite it in his fingers. He closed his eyes, counting to ten in his head and tried to concentrate. He imagined the numbers floating up in his head, looking like crumbling stone, then opened his eyes again and dialed a number.

"Yeah?" said the gruff voice on the other end of the phone.

"Randall, it's Aaron. Where are you?" he asked frantically. Wherever he and Mary were, he didn't sound terribly distressed.

"Went to dinner with the wife. You and Shay want to join us? She said you two were—"

"Not now!" Aaron cut him off. "Look, someone broke into the place. I can't find Shay and they look like they tore the place apart in the process," he said, speaking quickly.

"Woah, hang on there bud. What are you talking about?" Randall said. He sounded like he had his mouth full.

Aaron growled. "Just what I said. The whole place is wrecked and Shay is gone. The guy who did it left me a note. He knew I'd come here." He took a deep breath. "Look, just don't come home. Go to the police station or someplace else safe. Somewhere that isn't here."

"Alright," Randall replied. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going after her."

"What, alone?" Randall asked. There was a sharp clank on the other end of the phone as he dropped what sounded like a fork on a plate.

"No. I'm going to bring up as much of the cavalry as I can get, but I'm going after him. I won't be fooled again."

"Wait, who is he—" Randall's voice was cut off as Aaron disconnected the call. He swore to himself and looked at the phone again, pulling Judy's number from his contacts list. She answered after the second ring and Aaron didn't even wait for so much as a 'hello' before he launched into his explanation of what had gone down.

"What in the?" She gasped over the phone. "What do you need us to do?"

"Call it in. It'll take too long for a full team to get together, so I'm going to head after him myself."

"What do you mean, 'go after him yourself?" Judy asked, incredulous at the suggestion.

"Just what I said. Make sure to bring a car. We've got a long way to go." He hung up, pocketed the phone and looked back to the ruined room. He turned back to the window with its spider webbed pattern of broken glass and screamed, punching the glass pane as hard as he could. It shattered with a crash and pain stung his knuckles, splinters tinkling out to the alley below. They caught the reflected streetlights, twinkling in the glow before settling to the ground. Blood dripped from his paw and helped bring him back to a mental center point.

The strobe of red and blue lights flashed off the pavement and Aaron growled low once more, looking at the soiled mattress before going back downstairs to meet whoever had responded first to the scene. He hoped it was Nick and Judy, otherwise, there was going to be a lot of explaining to do, and not enough time to do it.

* * *

Aaron read off directions to Nick in a dulled, monotone voice from the hastily drawn map that Brian had left him. The police cruiser they had arrived in was significantly too small for a lion- sized occupant, and he silently cursed himself for not returning to the station himself to retrieve a vehicle that would accommodate his size.

"Which way?" Nick asked, stopping at a three-way intersection. It was darker than coal tar outside, the moon peeking in and out of clouds. The three officers were well outside of the city now and driving up a winding embankment that led to one of the surrounding flat-topped high plateaus around Zootopia. Out the right-hand window of the police car, the lights from the city glowed in a dome like some techno-magical force field in a shining blur.

Aaron looked again at the map he had been given with predatory dark vision that seemed only enhanced by the stress. "Turn right up here. Keep following the road," he said. Headlights cut through the gloom, circles of illumination that watched the pavement silently. They were far from the only things watching out tonight.

In spite of the growing fear and anger Aaron felt over Shay missing, there was something else too. A sense of edgy excitement under it all. The thrill of hunting something down. It came from a place deep within Aaron, a combination of hatred over someone he had once thought of as a valuable asset and a person worthy of protection, and an animal instinct of predatory savagery that was born of both the human spirit and the inborn hunting mammal mentality in the body he now inhabited. He was learning to give in to the feeling.

Judy thumbed her radio that she had brought with her. In the short time between when they had been called and shown up she had changed back into her uniform, protective vest covering her torso with her badge reflecting the console lights of the vehicle.

"Hey, Judy! I got in touch with the chief. He's sending a crew out to help you out." Clawhauser was on the radio tonight. Aaron hoped he would keep his attention long enough to be of good use in this dangerous time. "It's going to be a moment for them to get that far out though. Be safe out there."

"We will. Don't worry," she responded. She looked back over her shoulder to Aaron who made a dismissive wave with his paw. Her nose twitched in an anxious manner as she hung the mic back up on its peg and returned to watching the window. She had no idea what to expect coming up. If this Graham guy that Aaron had known at some point could get mammals to rip each other to pieces in a bar at the drop of a hat, she wasn't sure what else he'd be able to do. There were times like this that she both loved and regretted her career choice. Following a childhood dream of making the world a better place was one thing when you were just a young kit with a vision, but it was another when you were driving down a dark road hunting a pack of predators who weren't even from their world. Did they follow the concepts of predator and prey? Aaron had made the psyche of their former civilization sound wondrous and creative, but also scary and prone to violent behaviors when it suited them. Would the prey animals be more willing to be peaceful, or would they follow their predator brethren into war? What did they identify themselves as? Somehow the thought of Aaron in the back seat made her feel more nervous rather than safe, his temper a tinder box just waiting for the right spark. She looked at Nick as he concentrated on the road ahead, and realized she didn't blame Aaron for how he felt. If it were Nick in the same situation, would she feel any different? Would he feel the same way for her? She wondered what he was thinking.

Nick drove on silently, focusing on the road, the tip of his tongue protruding from his muzzle. He could smell the world around him sharply through the half opened window beside him. There was the scent of pine trees surrounding him, the smell of exhaust from the car, and the mixing pheromones of a scared bunny trying her best to put on a brave face, and a lion trying to hold himself in check over an injustice of the greatest magnitude. He thought of his own past and had a brief moment of existential conflict. Decades of running cons, scams and hustles and now he was trying to correct the wrongs of the world for someone he felt was a friend that he hardly knew at times. Scamming mammals out of their money for fun and profit was different than kidnapping though! Aaron spoke of Shay but he never really talked deeply of their relationship. Both he and Judy knew they were very much in love though. He looked to Judy riding next to him. She gripped the door handle with her right paw tightly, that look of courage and determination on her face, belied only by her drooped ears. He realized that love and friendship were really just two sides of the same coin. You were never really alone in these kinds of situations, were you?

Nick pulled the car into an abandoned parking lot and got out. Still dressed in his civilian clothes from the evening, he looked like he had just taken a police car for a joyride. He twiddled his fingers through the comforting weight of the various bits of junk he carried in his back pocket, a reminder of who he used to be and where he was now. The parking lot of Lux Mountain Scenic Overlook was dark and quiet. It held the seemingly out of place peaceful silence of emptiness, not the eerie silence that came with the hunt. He smelled the air. He could pick up some of the signs of civilization: garbage, fur and the mingled scents of animals that had been there, but they were muted and distant. There was nobody here. He looked around the lot, his dark vision bringing the world into sharp contrast with dulled colors. He could see Aaron inspecting the tree line ahead of them with its dirt path leading the way forward, and wondered what he saw through his eyes. He wasn't sure if Aaron ever really mastered the use of his senses like he had. Whatever he was experiencing he was determined to make something happen.

Aaron unfolded himself from the too-small back seat and stretched himself back out. He could feel every tendon in his body expand and pop as he stretched. It felt good and powerful, toned and ready for action. Ahead of him, he could see a pathway leading into a forested area. He stalked his way ahead, ignoring Judy's whispered protests for him to wait for their backup. This wasn't the time for waiting; it was the time to act. If he had still been back in the Army, he knew what the rest of his unit would have done: They'd have marched proudly ahead into the unknown, with him at their backs and ready to protect them. They weren't here though. He had to be a leader now. Protecting sometimes meant taking risks yourself, and he wasn't going to let someone take Shay from him, regardless of what it took. He followed the woodland path, Judy and Nick following with their eyes wide.

Aaron stopped in the middle of a clearing ringed with empty campsites, small squared off plots of dirt with metal O-rings on spikes sunk into the ground for anchoring tents. He stood in the middle of one of the cordoned off plots and inspected the ground. The pebbles that lined the box were disturbed, and one of the tent rings was missing. Otherwise, there was nothing there.

Aaron stood up, looking to the treetops. The canopy was dense here, cutting off most of the light from above. There was no telling who might have been watching him from out here. "Brian?" he yelled. "Graham, you out there? It's Ledbetter!" His voice carried throughout the forest.

Nick flinched at the outburst. "Keep it down," he yelled quietly. "What if he's out there?"

"Then he is going to wish he had another sniper with him," Aaron said in a low growl. Nick cringed at the thought. In the whole chaotic mess of the last week, he'd almost forgotten who they were out hunting. Guns were a forbidden commodity in Zootopia, but that obviously didn't stop criminals from getting them, as the bear had demonstrated. ZPD confiscated firearms from crime scenes on an occasional basis. They were sent out to a facility in Sahara Square district for meltdown and repurposing. The thought of someone hunting them through the dark treetops made Nick shiver. He hugged Judy to his body, like it would protect them both.

Aaron searched around the ground. Bits of windblown trash lay strewn about, and someone had left a torn women's shirt hanging from a tree. He plucked it off the broken stub of a branch that was serving as a hanger and rubbed it between his fingers. The fabric was thin and worn, the kind of thing that had gone through a lot of cycles of wear and washing machines. He tossed the shirt to Nick, and missed. It caught against the back of Judy's head where she and Nick were still clutching together closely. She removed it and gave Aaron a dirty look.

"What do you make of that?" asked Aaron, unapologetically.

Nick took the shirt and inspected it. He could pick nuances of the wearer in the scent on the clothing

"It's reasonably fresh, worn recently." He crinkled his nose. "Phew. Someone with a bit of a hygiene problem," he said, holding the shirt away from him. Aaron was standing with his arms crossed and eyes closed, thinking.

A scene played out in Aaron's head from what seemed like long ago, but in reality was less than seven months. Riding the elevated train, back against the wall and trying to pin the back of a hospital gown closed to cover his bare backside. A strong scent of body odor and the oils on his fur emanating off of it. Nick walking with Aaron down a noonday street, Aaron in handcuffs and trying to make the whole thing look like he was escorting a prisoner. He remembered a comment he had made. _"We need to get you some clothes. That gown is starting to stink._ " Someone who didn't have a lot of clothing to spare. Someone who wasn't making it into town to shop much because of a lack of money and easy transportation. He snatched the shirt back from Nicks paw.

"They're here!" he snapped.

"You're sure? I don't see anyone." Judy ducked and looked around in the darkened woods, ears perking up and rotating around to listen to the sounds of the woods at night. Nothing but the sounds of crickets. Not even birds stirred in their nests.

"I'm sure. Help me find them," he ordered, anger boiling back to a red rage.

Nick thought for a second and took the ripped shirt back from Aaron gingerly, like touching him might set him off again. He took another sniff of the material, making a gagging expression and then dropped it. He let go of Judy and walked a few steps away. They both reached out their arms toward each other, a remote, subconscious embrace. Smelling the air currents he pointed his nose down a small path through a cut in the trees and pointed.

"That way. Whoever it was came from there."

Aaron headed down the path without hesitation or even a good sense of caution, leaving Nick and Judy in the dust.

"Wait for us!" Nick called, grabbing Judy by the paw and dragging her with him.

"You need to wait for the backup to arrive," Judy scolded him, trying to keep up with Nick as he pulled her. She fished her cell phone out of her pocket and started dialing a number on it to let the responding officers know they were relocating somewhere else.

"Put that away!" snapped Aaron, turning around. "You want to give us away? Light discipline," he said, then softened. "We haven't got time to wait for them. I don't know what Brian did to Shay, but you should have seen the place."

"I'm sure she's fine." Judy said, never having sounded more unsure about herself at any time.

"She better be, or this is going to be blood for blood," Aaron said and kept walking.

The three walked on for a few more minutes till they came around a bend in the path. As Aaron came around the curve, he cleared a tree and stopped suddenly. Nick and Judy bumped into his from behind, stopping beside him where he had stopped. Aaron was staring straight ahead, eyes narrowed.

About twenty feet in front of him, a single figure stood in the middle of a wide spot of the path. He was hunched slightly at the shoulders, and his arms were crossed. He didn't move toward them, and the moonlight shone from behind him in a break from the treetops, backlighting him in silver. Aaron looked straight ahead, Nick and Judy moving behind him for cover. The figure was about the same height as Aaron, but scrawny and shaggy looking. His standing silhouette looked like something mothers would tell their cubs about to make them behave. In a way, he was.

"Brian," Aaron said, his voice cold as ice.

"Aaron Ledbetter!" Brian called and took a step forward, bringing himself into a pool of moonlight. His fur was streaked and soiled, a mated, ugly mess around the face. "No guns this time." He held his arms up, showing he was unarmed. "You took out my only guy that knew how to get a firearm in this depraved place."

"Where is she Brian? I want her back," Aaron said, not moving. He wasn't going to be the one looking weak in this game.

"Yeah, I want a lot of things myself. I don't think I'm getting them though. Have to come to terms with that I guess. I've got something you want though, and you have something I want. Fair trade, right?" Brian looked behind Aaron, arms still crossed and a pointed expression on his face. "Didn't I request you come alone? You didn't RSVP any guests. I think we both knew you would have brought them with you though. You always struck me as the kind to be prepared for anything. Hello Officer Hopps. I don't think we've met before."

Judy stepped out from behind Aaron, looking at Brian Graham through narrowed eyes. Somehow seeing him in person after the video recording of him at the Wonderland club made her blood boil.

"Who is your friend?" Brian asked in a congenial tone.

Nick stepped forward, lips curled back. This was him. The one that was the cause of so much chaos and strife in their lives now. Here he was face to face with him and he spoke in a silver tongue in a manner that almost made Nick envious.

"Wilde," he said. "Nick Wilde."

"Oh, I like that introduction! Sounds like an old _007_ movie. I loved those!" Brian exclaimed walking forward. He paused a few inches from Aaron, the stench of his fur overpowering. Nick just looked at them both, not getting the reference, but not ready to let his guard down.

"Just let me see Shay. I just want to know she's okay," Aaron said.

"Oh, she's fine. Hasn't said much to us though. She cries a lot," Brian said, in a sardonic voice. "Why don't we go talk for a bit? You can see Shay, and to be frank you have a lot to answer for."

"A lot to…" Aaron repeated, confused. He looked at Brian who he noticed was looking over Aaron's shoulder. Just as he caught the glance, he turned to see a cougar standing behind him, holding a brick. She swung the brick at Aaron just as he turned, and smashed him in the side of his head. There was a crushing sensation on Aaron's temple and the ringing of tinnitus overwhelmed him. The world went white, and then a practical explosion of blooming darkness. He dropped to his knees, and felt that he would vomit. He struggled forward, reaching out to Brian and failing. He collapsed in a heap near his feet, and could feel someone pin his arms behind his back with force. His vision swam and in the confusion, he could barely hear Nick and Judy scream.

* * *

Aaron could feel himself being dragged against the hard ground, face down. Mentally, he struggled to get free of his captor, but couldn't make the translation to motion. He lifted his head enough to see a pair of brown-furred legs pulling him forward before his strength gave out and he succumbed to the dizziness.

He regained his senses some bit of time later. There was a warm yellow glow across his blurred sight and he couldn't figure out where he was. The scent of smoke and filth hit his nostrils harshly and he closed his eyes again, waiting for the rest of his mind to come back to him. Someone struck him across the face, jerking his head sideways and his head silently screamed in agony. He bore his teeth as the assailant.

"Wake up you piece of shit," a female voice said to him in a snarl. He looked up, fighting nausea. The cougar that had hit him from behind was bent over him, and showing her teeth.

"Thought you were tougher than that. Brian didn't think that would work. Glad to see he was wrong about something," she said.

Aaron cleared his vision and looked around. He was in another wide clearing, a campsite similar to the first one. It was much bigger and peppered with tents, both commercial and makeshift. Animals milled around, some of them taking glances at Aaron but none moving to intervene. Barrels filling with burning debris and sticks from the surrounding woods were dotted at regular intervals across the landscape. Far off to Aaron's left side he could see the flat land give away to a sharp cliff facing. He was on top of some sort of wide plateau. In the distance he could see the lights of the city to what his internal compass suggested was east. They were high enough that there was an impressive vista of the city below. It was both comforting and yet there was the lingering knowledge of what went on below the shining polished layer that the city put forth. The ground here was worn down to dirt, only decorated by occasional scrub bushes and tufts of grass that had the courage or hubris to grow among the foot traffic and litter that were spread across the ground.

In spite of the brightly lit campsite, Aaron knew that the greatest darkness he'd seen in a long time was right here, and it stood with his back to him, black furred back crouched over and talking to a crested porcupine who was holding a device in one paw. It looked like a remote control from a TV that had been rebuilt. The front of the device had only a small red button on it with a plastic flip up protective case covering it. Aaron coughed, the overwhelming sense of malaise still threatening to win the war against his senses.

Several feet to his side he could see Shay. Her head rested against her chest, and her arms were bound at the wrists behind her low back. Her neck was decorated with what looked like a dog collar to top off the humiliation, a small box attached to the back of it across her cervical spine. She didn't move, but he could see her breathing slowly.

"Shay," he called out and tried to reach for her. As soon as he tried to move his arms from behind him they caught on something with a metallic clank, jarring his shoulders. He looked over his shoulder and saw what was binding him. His hands had been chained together and the chain wound through the loop of one of the same O-ring bolts that he had seen at the previous campsite. He was facing forward, and off his right and left shoulders, slightly behind him, Judy and Nick were similarly bound, their chains looped through the same linkage that Aaron was in.

Judy struggled valiantly with her chains, trying to free her paws from them, but they had been wrapped securely. Nick, on the other hand was quiet and subdued, oddly out of character for him. Aaron noticed that both of them were wearing the same modified leather collars around their necks. He could see them clearer now up close. The backs of the collars had a rectangular metal box that was positioned over the spine of their necks, no obvious locks or clips to make for easy release. He rolled his head in a circle, testing the area. At full extension he could feel the same device attached to him as well, positioned in the same place on his neck. He had a sudden terrible feeling about what the device the porcupine was holding was for.

Brian said something to the porcupine, and nodded, turning back toward his little captive audience. "So! Everyone awake? Bright eyed and bushy tailed as they say?" He eyed Nick as he said this with a grin. Beneath that grin, there was something hungry and evil.

"Why?" Aaron managed to groan. He could taste blood in his mouth and wondered if the impact had given him a head bleed or just knocked him senseless for a while. He tried to focus on the important part of the whole ordeal: how was he going to get out of this? He remembered his old training. Keep quiet, keep your captor engaged and distracted, and look for an opportunity for escape. Above all, keep calm. The last part was always the hardest.

"Why? You want to know why, huh?" Brian crouched down on his haunches in front of Aaron. "Come on man! You seemed smarter than that. The great Aaron Ledbetter! Medical supervisor for Project Babel, an ambitious project for DARPA. Working with the best and brightest minds that our generation had to offer. Graduated from the academy as some sort of tarnished star for the police force and making us all proud, right? I mean, let's break this down a bit. Let me spoon feed it to you." He stood back up, and waved around him like he was coming on stage at a Broadway play.

"The lovely Shay here is for incentive, if you will. I had to get you to come on out and meet with me right? Can't really do over the phone interviews for this. You remember doing those with me. An hour and a half of questions? What my background was? How I communicated with people? All that. Didn't think it was going to work out like that here."

"Your two escorts here, who you really shouldn't have brought with you by the way, I thought I mentioned that. Well, I really can't just let them go running around when we are trying to have a grown-up conversation, so here they are. You, on the other hand, are going to have to answer for what happened here. I'll decide where things go from there."

"Fine," Aaron said and spat bloody saliva on the dirt beside him. "Just let them go, and you and I can talk."

"No can do there, sir. I think you are going to need some convincing. Besides, Jeremy and I here have worked very hard at our project. You know, we're clinicians, you and I, Ledbetter. We have to test our equipment to make sure it's working properly."

Brian turned back to Jeremy, the porcupine he had been talking to a moment ago. "Mr. Haynes, would you mind?"

"Absolutely." Jeremy Haynes responded seriously. There was a slight whistle to his voice from between his buck incisors. He nodded to the cougar who had bashed Aaron upside the head. She got up from where she was sitting on a tree stump and walked over to Shay, kneeling in front of her.

"I know you're awake in there, hon. I can see your ears moving. You've been listening to us the whole time. Now get up." The cougar reached behind Shay and unlocked the padlock that secured the chains to the ring where she sat alone and wrenched Shay to her feet. She yelped at the rough treatment and looked to Aaron, her eyes wet and red. The cougar pulled her over to where Brian and Jeremy stood, in full view of the other three. Judy and Nick turned to look in fear at whatever spectacle Brian had in store for them.

Jeremy held the remote in a paw and flipped the protective cover open, pointing it at Shay's neck and pressed the button. There was a rapid clicking sound, and the smell of burning fur. Shay stiffened and made a choking sound, her whole body rigid. She fell face first onto the ground and somewhere in way in the distance Aaron could hear himself scream her name, his own voice lost in his rage.

"Electricity! Applied directly to the spinal cord!" Brian yelled jubilantly.

The cougar knelt down and checked Shay, nodding to Brian, before dragging her back to her hitching post.

"You son of a heartless bastard!" Aaron yelled. "I would have let you live! I promised myself I wouldn't let it get out of hand, but now look what you did!"

Jeremy pointed the remote back at Shay and snarled. "You want to watch yourself there. I can do that again if you aren't careful."

Aaron strained with as much strength as he could manage against the pole, trying to pull the metal anchoring ring out of the ground. It wouldn't budge.

"Alright, now that we've established who's in charge here, let's talk about this for a moment," Brian scowled at the three. "So, now you understand how the shock collars work, let's talk about an engineering problem. Jeremy here, bless his heart, is a genius with electronics but it's hard to make things work the way you want them to when you're limited to whatever you can steal from a shop window in town late at night. What do we have those things set at there, Haynes?"

"Fifty kilovolts at forty-five milliamps sir," Jeremy answered, toying with the remote.

"So, enough to cause loss of muscle control in a person or animal of more than seventy-five kilograms. Now, what if we were to do the same thing to someone with a lot less body mass? Like your rabbit here?"

"No!" Nick screamed, aghast at the thought of losing Judy to some psychotic wolf with a vendetta.

"You remember movies, Ledbetter? Good ones? Not the ones they play out here, but real stuff like we had," Brian said in a loud voice over the combined panic of his prisoners. _"It's too bad she won't live, but then again, who does?"_ Brian announced proudly, quoting _Blade Runner_.

Aaron strained against his chains again, and Judy was now even more frantically trying to work herself loose. Behind him, Nick had returned to his quiet state. He was thinking of something. Often his old con artist habits meant thinking on his feet, and now all the cards were down. It was do or die time. Eyes half closed, he leaned his body back so it rested against the metal pole they were attached to and whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "I've got an idea, but I need some time here. Keep him talking."

Aaron looked to Brian. "Alright. You got me. Let's talk," Aaron pled. "Just don't hurt anyone else. You want me? You got me."

Brian was still parading around, but at least Haynes had stopped pointing the armed remote directly at anyone.

"I used to love old movies, Ledbetter. I miss them. I miss a lot of things. I miss being home; I miss my wife and my boy. I miss waking up early and watching the sun rise over the Rockies. Sitting at home and watching baseball with a beer and some burgers on the grill."

"I'm sorry Brian. I really am. There are a lot of things I miss from back home too, really," Aaron stammered. He could feel Nick fidgeting behind him, but didn't dare look and draw attention to whatever was going on.

"Are there?" Brian paced back and forth, his lips curled back to show his teeth. "You look like you did pretty well for yourself. Imagine, the first time I see you, while I'm hanging out alone on a park bench, dressed up practically normal, chatting with friends like you've got some real buddies out there. I almost didn't believe it when I heard them mention your name. Then I happen to see your name in a newspaper I'm using as a freaking blanket! I saw your name congratulating the graduating police academy class. You suddenly turn into some minor celebrity for the day. Meanwhile I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing with myself and everyone else you let get dumped out here, while you sell us out to the authorities!" Brian practically spat his accusation at Aaron.

Behind Aaron, Nick shifted his paws down and sorted carefully through his back pocket. He tried to use Aaron's body size as visual cover. Luckily, it seemed like the rest of the downtrodden refugees were paying little attention to the scene going on near them, like this was normal behavior for Brian to just kidnap folks off the street and electrocute them as a show of force. He wondered if their backup would ever find them or make it before the wolf could have them all cooked alive.

The grace of luck struck him for a brief, shining moment and he felt something in his pocket. A small, but sturdy paperclip. Brian and Aaron were still yelling back and forth, and Nick used the noise as cover to turn just enough for Judy to hear him.

"I'm going to get us out of here Carrots. I'll keep you safe. I need you to fall backwards, get your head as close to me as you can. Judy screwed her face in a moment of fear and confusion, but put her trust in whatever Nick was planning. She slumped backwards with a feigned groan, her head falling back on the pole she was linked to. The metal ring dug into her head.

Brian turned at the sound and motion from his captives, striding briskly over to where Judy had "fainted" and yelled at Aaron, paradoxically. "Hey! What's going on over here? She needs to get up, right now!"

Aaron looked to Judy and then Brian. "Hey, you used to be a nurse. You know as well as I do that acute stress reactions can cause syncope." He tried to make a fast excuse, not sure if the reaction was for real or something Nick and Judy had planned out. Brian getting this close to them made his heart race.

"Get up you worthless vermin!" Brian growled, grabbing Judy by the ears and pulling her back upright. Judy squealed in protest, but got back to as much of an upright position as her bindings allowed. Brian never noticed that the bow she had pinned to the base of her right ear with the hairpin was missing.

"All this hatred and animosity Brian. What did they ever do to you?" Aaron tried to divert his attention back away from the others. Off to his side, Shay was recovering herself, bound back to her own tent anchor. She coughed in violently and looked to the others in a panicked stare between fits.

"I swear to God, I'll have Haynes cook you like a damn fried rabbit sausage if you don't stay up!" Brian yelled at her. At the sound of his name, Jeremy turned back towards Judy, hand on the remote, and flipped the protective case up again, thumb on the button.

"Let me tell you something that never came up in the whole interview process Aaron. We never got to know each other personally, did we? Here's a bit of a fact about myself: I hate animals. Always did. Only thing those dumb creatures are good for is eating. This?" Brian stood up and made a grand gesture over his body. "This is completely beneath me. This is beneath all of us!" He yelled loudly to the whole refugee camp. Heads turned and there were some murmured sounds of agreement from the camp.

Nick worked the bow he had pilfered from Judy's head in his paws and removed the hairpin. He bent it open at the bend and rearranged the paper slip into an L shape. Then he started on the tricky part. He slipped the pair of makeshift tools into the first lock he could feel behind him: Judy's. Using the hairpin, he tried to feel the pins inside the locks and used the paperclip to try and twist the lock cylinder. He had done this same thing many times in his past, but never blind and backwards, and never when failure would mean the death of one of his closest friends. He decided then that if he could only save one of them, it would be Judy.

"Humans were the dominant species on the planet for a reason," Brian continued monologuing to Aaron, resuming his place over by the burn barrel he was parading around. "We were the smartest and best adaptive creatures out there. It is completely and utterly below me to be having to share a living space with some filthy animal, living by their standards of what they consider to be civilization and dressed like I crawled out of the gutter.

"Why all the destruction though? What does that even prove? You had them slaughtered at that club. For what? You think that makes us look better?" Aaron shot back.

"I knew you'd see that. I've been keeping my eye on you. You're just attracted to disasters like flies to a bug zapper. I did that to prove a point. They're all just mindless beasts at their core, like always. It wasn't even hard to do. Just had to go and say the right things to the right ones. Told some wolves about what that group of cheetahs was planning on doing. Made a whole story up about how they were going to start a fight with them, and with enough booze they ate the whole thing up. At their best they were just all looking for an excuse to let the animal side of themselves loose. It was so simple. I even had Mellissa there go and tell those cheetahs somethings outside about how the other wolves were talking about them. She's great at that, isn't she? Used to be a motivational speaker back before you fucked us all over." Brian pointed to the cougar that had beaten Aaron into submission earlier. She grinned coolly.

"They're just so willing to listen to another feline. Trusted every word I told them outside. I had them pissed and ready for a fight by the time they even walked in the front door," she said.

"You see how they are just ready to let their base instincts loose? We didn't even have to stay around to catalyze it. Just said the right thing and leave. Their savage side did all the rest of it. Of course we knew you'd come running. Can't seem to keep away from these things, can you? Just like you couldn't help but let me lose everything on Earth and get trapped here like this."

"I tried to save you!" Aaron screamed at him, spittle flying from his mouth.

"You ran right past me and left me. Got hit by one of those bolts and you left me alone. It wasn't long after that I ended up floating in some time and god-forsaken void for who knows how long. I thought I'd go insane. What do I get then for holding myself together? This. I end up looking like a filthy mongrel and locked up for weeks. They tried to make me accept my place in society here. I decided right then that I was going to make us our own place in the world. We will be the dominant group again. You just wait, and when we are, I am going to use your hide for a rug."

"All you had to do was keep running," Aaron said quietly. "I tried to help you get away."

"You tried to save yourself," Brian said. "You're always thinking about your own needs, aren't you, you selfish bastard. Just like when you hired me. You were so caught up in the work at Benning that you promised me the world if I'd just give up everything to come and serve your needs. Make your job easier. I moved all the way from Montana to come and help you, Ledbetter. I left my wife and kid at home, told them I'd come back to get them and I end up disappearing before I could even go to lunch on my first day. It was always about what you wanted, wasn't it?"

Aaron closed his eyes, trying to hold back tears. Wasn't he right? He'd promised Brian so much if he'd come out there, all because it would have lightened his workload on a his project

Behind him, Nick gave the padlock cylinder a clockwise twist, and felt a pop. It had worked. If he did anything else in his life, he could at least say he tried to save his closest friend, even if his life was measured in minutes now. He was so happy he could have cheered, but that wouldn't do now. Only two more to go, and not a lot of time. He felt around behind his back until he felt Aaron's paws, crossed at the wrists. Just below that, there was another lock. He stuck the pin and clip in and started working again.

Aaron heard and felt the pop of a padlock releasing beside him. He could feel Nick's fingers working just below his hands and knew what was going on now. He leaned his head back as far as he dared and whispered, hoping against all else that he could be heard and that Graham wouldn't notice with his incessant patrolling around the burning barrel. Suddenly, he'd had an opportunity. Graham and Haynes walked over to where Shay was still struggling, not looking at them for a brief moment.

"Wait for my signal before you do anything," he whispered to Judy. "If anything happens to us, just know that I'm sorry for everything. I brought this on all of us." He felt something small and fuzzy grip on one of his fingers. A paw.

"It's okay. We're with you." Came the whispered reply. Aaron curled his finger in a squeeze of consolation.

Aaron looked back up, and tried to buy the fox more time to work, scooting his body until he was practically sitting on top on Nick's paws to hide them.

"Brian, listen to me," he called. "We don't know what happened. It wasn't us that did this. It was some freak accident."

Brian stood back up and turned to him, remaining over by Shay. "Oh, we know what it was. It was that damn Arrowhead project. I mean, come on. I walked right past the thing. You were working on the other side of the wall from it, and all you could tell me was 'we don't talk about Arrowhead'. Never thought to tell me in the hours of interviews we had 'Oh, by the way. We work next door to potentially world-ending technology that could blow up in our faces at any time.' All you thought about was getting me out there to do half your work for you."

"Even if it was Arrowhead; that was not my fault. I tried to get everyone out and do what was right. All you had to do was keep running. I had no way of knowing you were hit."

"Why couldn't you have just have though beyond yourself? You could have been such a great asset to us, Ledbetter. We needed you. Instead you come here, and just ditch us all to go try and be a hero. We could have done great things together. Now look at you. Chained up and weeping in the dirt at what's going to be the last few minutes of your life. I just needed you to come out here and be one of us; to look past yourself."

"I'm out there trying to be an asset to a whole city of living, thinking beings. It doesn't matter who or what they are. It's not my place to judge. Meanwhile you're out here trying to build an empire where you can feel powerful again to fill your own sad little empty heart. When you realized you couldn't do that you decided to go and cause as much chaos as possible. When that didn't work, you tried to have us killed in the streets like wild dogs. When you couldn't even get that part right, you just decided to go cause a senseless massacre, and when that didn't make you feel better, you just decided to go kidnap someone who isn't even involved in this, and drag me out here that way. Well, congratulations. You've got us now." Aaron said, his responses cutting through the humid, warm air.

"She is one of our people Ledbetter. She's one of ours and you can't even see that. Is she just another possession to you?" Brian asked, pointed a worn claw at Shay.

"Go to hell. Don't you call me one of yours, you psycho." Shay retorted angrily. It was the first thing Aaron had heard her say clearly since their arrival, and even the useless retort in the face of a monster whose good sense had abandoned him, it was like music.

Jeremy pointed the remote back at Shay and jabbed it forward. "Need another reminder here, sweetheart?" he said in that whistling tone of voice. Shay flinched back in fright. "I thought not."

Aaron felt a subtle pop from behind him, and a tap on his paw. He took a chance at stealing a glance over his shoulder at Nick.

"Don't worry about me," Nick whispered, trying to angle his picks to get to his own lock. The angle was too sharp though. He couldn't get the hairpin to go far enough in to work the lock pins. "Save them. Save yourself."

_I'm not going to leave you behind,_ thought Aaron _._ He looked over to Brian and there was still a way. He could feel his golden opportunity approaching. Far ahead, in the woods he could hear the sounds of crashing footsteps through the path that led back into the forest, twinkles of lights from flashlights in distance..

Brian and Melissa heard the sounds too though. They turned to the path way, backing within a few feet of his captives. He turned to the camp of milling refugees.

"Everyone to me! They want to get to them; they're going to have to get through us!" he shouted, commanding his war band to action. Heads poked out of tents and nervous glances exchanged. The rustling sound of footsteps was getting louder. Whoever was coming was big or numerous, possibly both. Time was up and Aaron was running out of options. He slipped his paws out of the chains quietly, subtly. As slowly as he could, he worked Judy out of her entanglement and held his position. _Just wait for me._ He thought, hoping the mythical concept of battlefield telepathy would grant him some fortune. They only had one chance at this.

There were rumbles of agreement and dissent coming from the on looking camp. There had to be at least three dozen of the refugees standing in a loose semi-circle around them.

"I'm not going to die for this, Brian." Aaron heard someone say from near the back of the crowd. Several inarticulate murmurs of agreement and argument came from around the voice and several animals stepped forward. An almost equal number stepped back, distancing themselves from the group.

Aaron closed his eyes and took a deep, focusing breath before opening them again to fix on Brian. The lights were just beyond a bend in the path now, and he could hear police radios bursting with sound.

Several things happened all at once: The first of the police response team appeared around the corner of the path, at the mouth of the clearing. It looked like half of the department had arrived, backing the leading mammals that made the spear tip. He could see Evan, dressed in full riot gear at the front, acting as point man. He came into the clearing, followed by Lyssa, Newbark and Bhara. Brian screamed to his crew.

"Kill them! Kill them all, right now!" he shouted, retreating back a few more steps with Haynes at his side.

The porcupine turned to face Judy and flipped the cover off the firing button on the remote. Aaron felt his pupil's dilate and the world brighten as he focused on him.

"Now!" he yelled to Judy.

Judy suddenly jumped from her position, freed from her bonds. She sailed through the air, leading with her foot and kicked Jeremy directly in the stomach. He recoiled from the force and the remote flew from his hands, dropping to the ground and falling into the shadows. Aaron stood up, surprising Brian and catching him off guard. Aaron pulled the chain that had been holding him along with him and charged at Brian.

The campsite erupted into chaos. The officers charged, and so did a decent portion of the refugees, arming themselves with whatever they could find. Sticks, stones and broken bottles came out and started flying as the rest of the ZPD officers ran in to engage the attackers.

Brian ran at Aaron in an attempt to tackle him. Aaron sidestepped and swiped at him, off balance and just grazing his back. The wolf stumbled a bit and tripped over where Nick still sat, chained and helpless in the battle. Aaron dashed over to him and grabbed him by the back of the shirt, tossing him and keeping him off balance. He expected Brian to get right back up and go on the attack, but instead he ran the opposite way, toward the path where heavy fighting had broken out.

Aaron scrambled along the ground, scrubbing the dirt with his paws looking for the tools Nick had been using. When he couldn't locate them in the kicked up dust, he resorted to trying to pull the stake out of the ground itself. It was well seated though and wouldn't budge.

"I said not to worry about me, go get Judy and Shay." Nick ordered through gritted teeth. Aaron looked over to where Shay was thrashing against her chains and dropped what he was doing with Nick to move again.

Aaron broke from his position. He ran over to her, and stuck a claw tip onto the lock, trying to pick it by hand. The lock was small but heavy and he couldn't get far enough in to find all the pins. He kept trying to force his way in, Shay screaming in his ear franticly.

"It's going to be okay. I'm going to get you. It'll be alright," he tried to console her as he made a futile effort to unlock the chains. Just as he thought he could reach the innermost locking pin Shay yelled a garbled warning and someone hit him in the head from behind. His head slammed forward and impacted with Shay's skull. The collision stunned him and he rolled on his back in time to see the cougar leap at him and land on top of him. He tried to get out of the way but only managed to get to a knee before she landed right in his lap. She opened her mouth wide, white razor sharp fangs shining in the firelight and bit down on his shoulder. Aaron could feel her fangs penetrate the skin of his shoulder and sink in. He roared in pain, and brought his right arm across his body, swinging it back across his chest and driving his elbow into the side of her face. She released her bite and fell back, holding her muzzle. Aaron jumped on her offensively, and grabbed her by the back of the head, pushing it forward as he brought his knee up into her forehead with a crunch. Melissa stumbled back, falling onto the ground and hitting the back of her head, and did not rise again.

Aaron looked at his shoulder where he'd been bitten. Deep puncture marks poured blood freely near the collarbone. He clapped a paw over the injury, trying to hold pressure. The blood only welled up between his fingers. Aaron struggled back over to Shay, just in time to see Brian again. He was down on the ground, alone and searching for something. The remote! He could hear Nick yell a warning to him and he looked back and forth. He couldn't get Shay free before Brian got himself rearmed. If he found that remote he could easily fire it at Nick or Judy, possibly killing them with the unmitigated shock. He wasn't sure if Shay would be able to take another hit either.

"I'm going to come back for you," he said, and planted a sticky, bloody kiss on Shay's nose before running after Brian.

He caught up to Brian just as the wolf found the remote and tackled him from behind. The two rolled around on the ground, struggling for possession of the device. Brian rolled onto Aaron and wrapped his paws around Aaron's neck, choking him. Aaron gasped for breath and tried to pry Brian's fingertips from his throat. He couldn't get them off, and instead Aaron dug a foot into Brian's midriff and kicked outward, Brian flew over Aaron's head, rolling a few times away towards the edge of the steep cliff face that made the far east border of the campsite. The fence was broken and dismantled, presumably used for firewood.

Around them, the fighting was reaching a violent conclusion, refugees pinned to the ground by officers. Evan himself had tackled a buffalo, and was handcuffing him with zip ties into submission. Ringgold and Newbark were working at breaking the locks that held Nick to his position.

Brian stood up and roared gratingly, standing right at the edge of the cliff.

"I am not going down like this! Not without you!" He put his head down and ran at Aaron, who dropped his shoulder and charged forward. They barreled toward each other like a pair of football players. They met near the edge of the cliff and Aaron caught him low in the chest, knocking him backwards. The momentum carried Brian back and he struggled for a moment to keep his balance on the ledge before falling back and catching himself on the precipice.

Aaron ran forward and lay down on his belly, reaching out. Brian was hanging on the edge by his fingertips, eyes wide in panic. It was a long way down.

"Brian, grab my hand!" Aaron yelled, holding his paw out for him to take. "I can pull you up. I'll help you."

Brian looked up at Aaron, and suddenly his expression of fear turned cold again, back to one of bloodthirsty revenge. He reached out with his right paw and took a swipe at Aaron, trying to claw him across the face. The motion was all it took for him to lose his grip, and he slipped from the edge, screaming. Aaron watched him fall, feeling like everything was going in slow motion and watched the dust puff up from far below as he hit the ground in a crumpled mess and lay still. Aaron dropped his head down in the dirt, openly crying now. His tears and blood soaked into the ground and were lost to the soil, his hollow victory just a defeat in a shallow disguise.

After what seemed like hours he felt someone put a paw on his wounded shoulder. He picked his head up, and looked to see Nick, looking ruffled and dirty, but living, Judy standing behind him. She had several porcupine quills stuck in her right hip, but managed a wan smile. Evan came in behind them both, with Shay propped up on his shoulder. She alternately sobbed and laughed, looking at the others, glad to be safe but overwhelmed at the events of the evening. She broke free from Evan and knelt beside Aaron.

"You really know how to plan a romantic night out," she said, coughing and sputtering.

Aron swallowed hard as he heard Even get on his radio and call for ZMS and more police units to the scene. Behind them, the remaining refugees that had failed to escape in the fracas were on their knees, paws above their heads and being rounded up by the rest of the police.

"Maybe you should get Tac Med out here?" Nick joked. "Oh, wait." He chuckled and coughed up dust. Aaron couldn't think of anything to say, and just turned his gaze to look off the cliff face and see the body of someone he had once known, someone he had tried to help, someone he had broken his promise to, lying dead on the ground far below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter marks the wrap-up to part one of Anatopism. It's been really great writing this story, and I'd like to give some special thanks to my editing and beta reading team team, in particular: The Byrd family, Wordplae, MachineHeart and DigitalPanda who have been following this story for a while now and supplied me with a lot of tips, critiques, plot ideas and corrections to my work. I could not have gotten this far without their help.
> 
> Also, thanks to everyone else who has been reading so far. I won't turn this into an Oscar speech, but I appreciate all of you.
> 
> The story WILL be continuing, and I expect to have the start of part two out in a week or so.
> 
> Again, thanks everyone!
> 
> CobaltLion


	19. Sludge Symptoms

Mornings were never a good way to start the day, Monday mornings even less so. They brought with them the worst part of the week. Grumpy mammals, heavy traffic on the train lines, and staff meetings too early in the day. At least the rainy weather fit the mood as Aaron walked in the front door to the police HQ building.

Aaron dried his mane as best as he could with the sleeve of his shirt, which wasn't much drier than the rest of him. He made a mental note to get an umbrella on the way home. The left shoulder of his shirt bulged suspiciously, packed with a bulky dressing over his healing bite wound. It stung when he moved and he thought about how he was going to get as little work done as possible with his movement restricted. Overall, he looked like he had been through a warzone. In a way, he supposed he had. Besides his shoulder, both paws were covered in small scabs and bits of missing fur from his encounter with the window, an impulsive mistake he had to remember not to make again. He was sore all over, his head still ached whenever he coughed, sneezed, or laughed. The last part hadn't been a problem that occurred very much. In the aftermath of the fight at the campsite, Aaron had found little to be amused about.

Crossing the lobby and lost in thought, Aaron ignored any of the assorted cheerful and disgruntled sounding greetings he got as he walked into the back offices and retrieved his uniform from his locker. He carried it back to the med bay without a word to any of the other officers present and walked to the med bay, closing the door behind him. He pulled his shirt off and looked at his bandages. They had oozed a sick looking pinkish yellow color that saturated the pads. Wincing, he pulled the tape off where fur had managed to stick to it and inspected the wound itself where it had been shaved and irrigated at the hospital following the night on the mountain. A set of two deep punctures were connected by four smaller, shallower marks like perforation on a paper. Aaron rifled through a cabinet with trauma supplies and tore open several packages of padded dressings, pressing them firmly back onto his shoulder. It stung badly, Aaron pressed down even harder, biting his lower lip and concentrating grimly on the pain. He secured the dressing with a gauze wrap, buttoned his shirt over the top of it and sat down with a sigh and frown. He popped the lids off three different bottles of antibiotics, none of which he was that familiar with, and swallowed them all dry where they hung in his throat like wads of plastic, following them with a pain pill that looked more it was designed for a musk ox.

He put his head down on the desk next to his laptop and enjoyed the darkness for a moment. He was going to have to check the work docket at some point he figured. He knew he wasn't the only injured one from the other night, and soon enough other officers would start knocking down his door to get rechecks or cleared back to work. For now though, he just needed a moment.

Brian's body had been recovered from the base of the cliff in a technical recovery operation that had lasted most of the remainder of that night. In spite of everything he'd said, wished and wanted to do, this wasn't how he'd wanted it to end. There was something to be said for the defeat of dying alone, dashed on the ground a universe away from everyone that loved you. He wondered what Brian's family would have thought, if they were even still on Earth. Did they think he had just run off? Did they even know what had happened to him? At least the whole thing was over. He hoped this would mean an end to the spike in violent crime that seemed to find him in the middle of it.

There was a knock on the door, loud and booming. He groaned and looked at the door, his head ringing. Time to make himself look presentable.

"Just a second," Aaron yelled back, tucking his shirt in and smoothing the wrinkles from it. If he had to do this all day he figured he would either lose what was left of his mind, or start just passing out animal tranquilizers like candy and tell everyone to sleep it off and bug him in a week. He opened the door and there was a pronghorn dressed in a business suit. She was holding a leather portfolio and worse a badge pinned to her lapel, but was quite obviously not a field officer.

"Can I help you?" He asked in a dry tone of voice. He had several guesses who and what the pronghorn was and what she wanted, none of them were things he felt like dealing with at the moment.

"Allison Percora, Internal Affairs," she introduced herself in a way that was even more dry and toneless than Aaron could have managed on his worst day. "You're Aaron—"

"Yes," Aaron cut her off before she could finish her sentence. All the possibilities of who she was, and it had to be IAS. Nothing like having yourself investigated after a bad end of the previous work week. "I suppose you need something of the utmost importance?"

Percora stuck her head in the door and looked around the small med bay, he eyes stopping on the pill bottles on the edge of the desk.

"You don't look terribly busy at the moment, and I already know you aren't going to drill with the rest of the SWAT team with an injury like that." She pointed to the padded shoulder where a bit of gauze showed from under Aaron's shoulder.

"Alright, fine," Aaron relented, and stepped away from the door, motioning Percora inside. "You want to talk? Come one in and let's talk."

The ungulate shook her head and pointed the other way. "Not here, Chief's office. He wants to see you on this."

They walked through the halls and largely empty workrooms, most of the officers out on patrol, Nick and Judy included. They had bounced back far easier from their more minor injuries, thankfully. At least there was something to be gained from the whole thing. If nothing else, none of the other officers had been injured terribly thanks to Nick's quick thinking and fast lock picking abilities. Aaron figured that his shoulder would heal, assuming that it didn't get infected, rot and fall off in the next week.

The chief's office was closed off as usual. Percora opened the door without knocking and walked inside, something Aaron wouldn't have done in his wildest dreams, or unless he felt like getting unceremoniously fired. All things considered, the way this was going, he wasn't sure he wasn't going to be in that situation in a few minutes.

Aaron followed the investigator inside and closed the door behind him. Bogo was watching news broadcast on a computer screen. He turned the monitor toward Percora. A snow leopard was narrating from on top of the park, near the broken fence of the cliff edge, the city showing in the background.

"Following up now on that story from Friday, at Lux Mountain Park campground where police raided a Portal Refugee camp that resulted in the arrest of seventeen refugees and the death of one. The deceased has been identified by ZPD as Brian Graham, a—"

"Turn that off. Please...sir," Aaron said bluntly while still trying to be respectful of the position, looking away from the screen. Bogo grunted, and paused the video turning the screen back towards him.

"So, once again we find our happy little family at the center of media attention thanks to your involvement," Bogo said, his perpetual frown deeper than usual.

"Sir?" Aaron looked at the chief. He knew what was coming.

Percora answered for Bogo before he could get anything out of his mouth.

"We've been investigating the attack on you and the other officers from the weekend. We had some things we'd like you to clarify for us." She opened the packet and leafed through it.

"How did you know Graham?" She asked. It was the kind of question that Aaron figured he'd be answering for the rest of the week as long as this kept up.

"He is, rather, he _was_ a coworker of mine back home," Aaron kept his response succinct.

"I saw that," Percora said, reading off a paper in her folder that she had turned so only she and Bogo could read it. Aaron wondered to himself why they would bother asking questions they already knew the answers to.

"Any major problems with him?" She asked, pointing to something on one of the pages.

Aaron sighed. "Aside from the part where he recruited a sniper to try and kill me in the streets, set off a mass killing at a run-down strip club, kidnapped my girlfriend, had me hit over the head with a brick, and tried to have us all electrocuted to death? No, not a single problem with him," he said with more than a hint of dangerously unprofessional sarcasm in his voice.

"I see. Well, I guess since we are all on the same page on this, we should get down to the point," Percora said, not looking at Aaron.

"Yes, let's," Bogo replied. "I don't have all day to do this."

"Well, we'd like to get this cleared up so we can get to quieting the whole situation down," Percora said, looking over her folder and sharing it with the chief.

"They'll forget about it in a few days. If there is anything here, we can get more information from the prisoners once we get this whole situation calmed down," said Bogo.

"It's going to be everyone's story against his, but there probably is a lot of bias right now. Of course, it still needs to be investigated."

Aaron looked at the door. "If you two are just going to talk around me, I'm going to leave and go flush my wounds out."

"I'm not done with you yet!" Bogo snapped. "We're getting statements from the refugees that were arrested at the park that you threw Mr. Graham off a cliff during the fight."

Aaron took a breath and concentrated. "I am going to say this carefully since I don't want this to be more trouble for anyone than it has to be. I did not push him. I tried to help save him, again. He used the opportunity to try and attack me, and slipped."

"Well, we still have to look into what really happened. Unfortunately, we don't have anyone with video or audio evidence of the whole thing." Bogo eyed Aaron as if he should have brought a cinematography party with him and choreographed the whole thing.

"Aside from what seemed like the entire HQ division responding to the campsite and seeing this, as well as Officers Hopps and Wilde who were tied up right next to me, and Shay who was maybe a few feet from me when this happened? No, there are no eyewitnesses," Aaron said, standing as best as possible at parade rest in the middle of the room. His left shoulder throbbed in its position and he thought the wound would tear open again. At least the dark blue shirt would help cover the bloodstains.

"You know that is going to be called biased." Percora pointed out.

"It's going to be our word against theirs, yes," admitted Bogo. They were going to be in a tough situation one way or the other.

"That brings up another issue I have with this:" Bogo continued. "That is the one of you acting outside your duties. Would you mind reminding me of what your job is here, Officer Ledbetter?" He watched Aaron with a snide expression.

"I'm the tactical medic for the first precinct SWAT. I provide rescue medical assistance to injured officers in high-threat situations," Aaron said with an audible sigh like he was an unruly student in a classroom being made to recite the rules.

"Exactly. You do not investigate crimes; you do not initiate responding to scenes, especially without waiting for proper backup."

"With all due respect Chief, I was responding outside of work hours, out of uniform and to the urgent needs of an innocent third party."

"You were supposed to have waited for the rest of the response team." The chief growled.

"I waited as long as I thought was reasonable given the situation," Aaron lied. He'd let his temper and sense of urgency get the best of him, but would have done it again in a heartbeat. "I wasn't expecting to get ambushed in the middle of the woods."

"Yes, you seem to have a habit of getting ambushed, don't you?" Percora said, her voice dry as a bone.

"No, I have a habit of being hunted down by an animal, and I use that in the most degrading sense of the word possible, by someone who had a grudge against me. If it makes any difference, none of this was supposed to come out this way," Aaron said.

"Well, he's gone now," said Bogo, looking back at his monitor, doubtless showing the news broadcast.

"If it means anything in my defense, none of this was supposed to turn out this way. I really did try to pull him back up in the end. I'm sure the others can back me up on this," said Aaron. He kept thinking back to Brian, hanging off the cliff edge, helpless but still committed to his ideals and wanting revenge against someone that he obviously felt had brought everything down on him. If the whole thing wasn't so awful, it would have almost been an impressive testament of leadership. Not many people or mammals that he'd encountered could talk others into being proxy killers.

"I'll be talking to the others. You'll be around if I need to meet with you again, yes?" Percora said, closing her folder up and heading for the door.

"Well, you know where I work," said Aaron, unfreezing himself from his position and following the pronghorn for the door.

"Ledbetter," Bogo said in a low rumble, "I'm not finished yet."

Aaron turned back to the chief and the door closed behind him, leaving him trapped in the room.

"Sir?"

Bogo sighed. "I remember us having a talk some time ago about you discouraging vigilante style justice by the refugees. We'll do what we can with this, and I suppose that means backing you, however you are to remain here unless you are assigned to other duties by myself or one of your superiors. Am I clear on this?"

Aaron managed a salute with his good paw. "Yes, sir."

"Good, now get out of here," Bogo waved Aaron away dismissively like a fart in the wind and Aaron walked out. He knew where he stood in the world.

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

"Well, home sweet home?" Aaron said, pushing the door to the apartment open, and setting down a cardboard box. Shay pressed past him into the single-room apartment situated in one of the sprawling residential areas that made up Savana Central?.

The building was reasonably new, but obviously not the brightest star in the night sky. It was, however, affordable and that was the important part right now. The floors were an overly glossy fake hardwood laminate and the kitchen looked small enough that the two of them would be hard pressed, literally to fit in there together.

Aaron pulled the single box that contained both his and Shay's meager mutual belongings into the bedroom. The room was a bit better, more spacious but likely influenced by its lack of furnishings. It was something they'd have to fix, but for the time being a mattress and the floor would have to do.

"So, you think this is going to work out okay?" Shay asked.

Aaron leaned on her shoulder and looked over the room. A single small ceiling fan turned lazily above their heads, threatening to shave Aaron's mane off if he were a bit taller. "We'll make it work out. It's not the greatest, but everyone at work assures me the area is safe."

Aaron had decided to leave the living situation offered by Nick and Judy, now that it had been several months. The sticker shock of rent prices in the city would mean it was probably a terrible financial decision on his part, but being able to keep Shay closer to him would be protection, not to mention some of the fringe benefits of her living with him.

"Are you going to miss them?" Shay asked, snapping Aaron from his daydreaming.

"What?"

"Nick and Judy. You know they offered to—"

"I know what their offer was. I didn't think it was right to take them up on it. They've been more than generous to me over the months, and I think both of us living there would be pushing the limits of things. Besides, think of all the animal hair we'd have to clean up." He grinned at the thought. "I still work with them anyways."

Aaron walked over to the bedroom window. It had an impressive view of the red bricks of the building adjacent to them, separated by only a thin ally. At least it let some light in. For the time being, the place would do fine. It was nothing he'd want to spend the rest of his life in, but for big city living it wasn't terrible.

Shay came over and joined him by the window, hanging off his shoulder. Things had been calm, in a brief show of mercy from life since their night on the mountain. She had gotten to see inside the crazed world that Aaron had dealt with again, and she could see how it was prone to changing her. She noticed herself being more jumpy than usual, and she would find herself waking up at night, panting and scared as she chased away dreams of wolves chasing her through a dark forest. Being attacked in her home had ruined the illusion of safety for her. She looked to Aaron, who was staring out the window in silence, stoic as ever.

"At least it's all over," she said, leaning on his body. He didn't say anything, but reached out and hugged her to him.

"Yeah. It's over. We survived. We always do, don't we?"

* * *

Steam rose in lazy curls from the disposable coffee cup sitting on Aaron's desk, the fourth one just like it. It's empty cousins were tucked around it, not yet banished to the trash can. It was late in the night and Aaron was holding down the fort in solitude from the med bay. He had been following the chief's commands of staying put as much as possible but had noticed he had drawn a number of shifts that were either undesirable or outright awful. Several teams were on an assortment of stakeouts and late night assignments and Aaron had drawn the short straw for coverage of the teams while they were out, easy to do when you were the only straw to be drawn. Ringgold was out in the station somewhere, but had not come by to see Aaron, nor had Aaron made any effort to be social.

Across town, near the riverfront in downtown, Nick and Judy sat in an unmarked car, sunk low in the seats. Judy had tucked her ears behind her head to reduce the obvious signature they gave, and both of them were wearing dark clothes with no obvious police markings on them. A set of binoculars sat in Nick's lap like a satisfied kitten, the strap wrapped around them. All along the road, warehouses that looked in desperate need of cleaning and paint lined the riverfront side of the road. Nick was keeping his eyes trained on the passenger side mirror, watching the door to one in particular.

"You know Carrots, when you first talked me into joining the police you never said it would be this exciting," he said, looking at Judy. She snapped her head up, and ahead wide-eyed, snapped back from the hypnotic near doze she had been caught in.

"Hey, I think we've both met our excitement for the year recently," she said, yawning. They had been given the terribly exciting assignment of a nighttime stakeout of a warehouse on the street. Admittedly, the whole thing would have been much more interesting had anything been happening. There was suspicion of one of the buildings being used for possible drug manufacturing, and the two were tasked with monitoring the area for possible activity and finding any potential evidence that could be used before the SWAT team could go in and make some arrests. As it stood, though nothing had happened that would have made for evidence.

Nick turned away from the window and looked at Judy. The sparse streetlights made her gray fur look almost ghost-like in the shadows. "You still thinking about that night? About everything?"

Judy rubbed her face with her right paw and looked away from Nick. "Yeah. Don't you? Everything about that was messed up. I knew some of the refugees were unhappy, but I didn't think they would ever take it that far." She pictured the night, chained up and waiting to see if it would be her last night alive, flying through the air and delivering a kick that probably saved her and Nick's life to the porcupine, the scattered confusion of the fighting all around her. Aaron had mentioned war before, and what his job had been during it. Was that what it was like? Being scared, but so caught up in the moment that you simply acted on command and instinct without considering your own fear and safety?

Nick saw her deep in rumination and reached across the console, rubbing her shoulder. "You know I'd never let anything happen to you, right?" he said in a quiet voice. She reached up and took his paw.

"I know. You saved us all that night. You did really well. I knew having a clever fox around was a good idea," she said with a smile. "Besides, we—" she cut off suddenly, her ears perking up involuntarily. "Nick, behind us! Five o'clock." She dropped lower in her seat and looked at the rearview mirror, Nick's paw withdrawing from her.

Behind them, in the mirror, a tall figure with a rack of antlers was carrying a sack of trash. The figure dumped the bag into a dumpster outside a door to the warehouse and turned to go back inside; never even paying attention to the darkened, inactive car that was parked on the road between several others.

Nick and Judy sat frozen for a moment, hardly even breathing. After a moment of no activity, they relaxed.

"Think that's something?" Judy asked, watching the dumpster in the mirror.

"I don't know. I'm going to check it out," said Nick, slipping quietly from the passenger seat. He looked up and down the road. Nobody was out at this time of night, and the mammal that had dumped the trash had returned inside.

Nick tip-toed light and quiet to the dumpster. It sat right outside of the door the figure had exited from, covered in rust and chipped green paint. Nick reached out slowly and grasped the handle, twisting it slowly. He could feel the mechanism sticking and a low creak sounded from it. He backed off, not wanting to alert whoever was inside. With more preparation and a better disguise, he figured that he could probably walk inside and use some silver-tongued talking to fit right in, but he'd have to know more about what was going on to make it convincing. He backed away from the door and looked back to the car for moral support. Judy was in the back seat now, watching out the rear windshield, wide-eyed. He gave her a thumbs-up sign and snuck around the far side of the dumpster. It was painted the same algae green that the door had been at one point, and what appeared to be some trash collection company's logo was almost scraped off the long side, impossible to read. The whole thing smelled like chemical fertilizer, sewage, and spoiled vegetation.

Nick held his breath and jumped, grabbing the edge and scrambling up to look over the top. The bag that had been thrown out was sitting on top of dozens like it, near the top of the stack. It was the only one not wet with the nighttime dew. He scrunched his face up in a disgusted look. There was something he never could get past about getting his paws dirty, and here he was without gloves. Swallowing hard, he used a claw to make a small hole in the bag, near the bottom, just big enough to check inside. The garbage bag contained clear plastic containers with graduation markings on them, part of a tarp, and several other assorted containers. None of them had anything obvious that looked incriminating, but sometimes the best evidence wasn't visible. He grabbed one of the plastic flasks from inside and smelled it. The scents of the rest of the trash had mingled with it and Nick gagged. Small splatters of a liquid were stuck to the inside. It touched his paw pad and the idea of what he was digging through made him feel sick. He was about to take the flask out of the bag and back to the car when he heard a grating screech from the door on the other side of the dumpster opening. In a panic, Nick dropped the container and slipped back down the side of the dumpster, crouching behind it.

Hooves clicked on the pavement and stopped just on the other side of the dumpster. Nick crouched, frozen not five feet from whatever animal had come outside and he listened, hardly breathing. If the arrival came around the other side of the dumpster he would be made instantly. He could hear the figure take a deep, sucking breath and a second later a plume of smoke wafted above the top of the dumpster. Nick heard the figure set something down on the ground, and waited.

"Hey. Yeah, it's me. I'm still on site. Going to be another all-nighter," he heard a voice say. At first, Nick thought there was two of them, a thought that made his pulse quicken. He realized then that whoever had come out was talking on a phone. Nick turned an ear and listened.

"Had to get out of there for a moment. Can't stand the fumes, they're going to give me cancer or something," said the voice say, taking another drag from his cigarette.

"No, it's just another night of guarding the eggheads and being their personal janitor. Another day at the office…I know what he said…because I also know what Reniere told us…No, I'm not complaining, I'm just venting. Speaking of, I better toss this stuff and get back inside before someone complains."

There was a moment of silence, another plume of smoke and the sound of the speaker picking up whatever he had dropped on the ground. He tossed something and another large bag of garbage sailed all the way over the top of the dumpster, landing inches from Nick. He held his breath, if the other guy decided to come around and retrieve it, he was sunk.

"Shit," he heard the trash hauler say. Nick curled up tighter behind the garbage bag, not at all adequately concealed behind it. "Eh, forget it," he heard, and then a moment later the screaming noise of the door opening and slamming shut again.

Nick didn't move for a good moment. When he was convinced that he was alone outside he looked at the bag and thought for a moment about checking the new bag in front of him. The thought of having to soil himself by going back digging through trash made his stomach turn, and he snuck out and ran back to the car.

Judy had already jumped back into the driver's seat by the time he slinked back in the car and looked at him with an expectant look. "Well, what'd you find?" she said as he got settled. Nick just shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Some random trash and containers. I thought that other guy was going to see me for sure." he said, wiping his paws on his pant legs. "I'm not sure if it's really anything useful or not." He cursed himself for having forgotten to bring back one of the cups for forensics to analyze, but there was no way he was pulling that stunt twice in a night. He reached into the floorboards and grabbed a small bag that he had brought with him, digging inside and coming up with a paw full of blueberries. He offered them to Judy who just shook her head and yawned.

"No thanks. If I eat I'm just going to feel even more tired. Besides, I'm not taking anything from you until you wash your paws," she said. Nick shrugged and tossed a few of the berries up in the air and catching them in his mouth.

"Suit yourself. Only six more hours to go."

* * *

Aaron was still sitting behind his desk, working on his laptop, reviewing charts for officers he had seen in the days the previous day. He had to submit them to both the chief's office and to one of the doctors at Zootopia General Hospital, who acted as his medical oversight in his job. He had decided to get some actual work done and to keep awake with, and not have to worry about them on his day off when morning came. At least there was nothing complicated going on since the battle for the campground a few weeks ago. Aaron and Shay had probably gotten the most complex wounds in the whole thing and those could be dealt with another time. He was concentrating on his work when his phone rang. He answered without looking at it.

"Tac Med," he said with a yawn that was a half low roar and half moan. He could hear laughter on the other side.

"Hey, Aaron. It's Judy. You've got to check out Nick." she said, in between burst of laughter.

Aaron sighed. He wasn't in the mood for levity this late in the night. "What's going on out there?"

"He is absolutely fumigating this car right now!" she said, with a laugh and a cough.

Aaron didn't say anything for a moment. Surely Judy would not call at three in the morning just to make immature jokes?

"I'm having tummy trouble right now! Geez, cut me a break," he heard Nick say from somewhere off the line.

"Crack a window and tell him to stop living on a diet of coffee and whatever he's eating from the gas station," Aaron hung up the phone and set it back on his desk. He went back to his work, distracted and bored.

It was some hours later, approaching dawn when there was a firm knock on his door. Aaron's meaningless idling was interrupted and he looked at the door.

"Yeah, come in!" he shouted from behind the desk. The door opened and Judy and Ringgold came in with Nick between them. He was clutching his stomach with both paws and hunched over, supported by the two female officers on either side of him.

"You are in here," Ringgold observed.

"I've been restricted by high command for the time being. What's going on?" he said, looking at the fox. Nick responded by holding a finger up in a 'wait' gesture and then breaking from the grip of Judy and Ringgold. He ran to the trash can beside Aaron's desk, bent over and gripped it firmly and then vomited into the plastic liner with a disgusting retching noise. The ejecta had an overwhelming sewage-like odor that made Aaron feel like following suit.

"What's going on?" Aaron asked of no one in particular.

"Found the two of them coming in from the vehicle pool like that," Ringgold said, covering her nose and looking away from Nick who had sat down on the floor beside the waste bin.

"It's nothing," Nick groaned. "Told you I was having some stomach problems."

Aaron helped Nick up from the floor and onto the exam stretcher beside the wall, offering him a tissue to clean up with.

"He started getting sick a few hours ago," Judy explained. "We were just sitting in the car and, well…you got my call."

"I told you, I'm okay," Nick protested as Aaron started checking him over, and still holding his stomach. "I just ate something that didn't agree with me."

"Yeah, you look great," Aaron remarked, "Whatever you ate looks like it's more than not agreeing with you. It looks like it's trying to kick your tail and winning."

"Takes more than that to kill me," Nick said. "Don't you always say that?"

Aaron pressed on Nick's abdomen, and he moaned and made another gagging sound. Aaron worked him over, Judy and Ringgold watching from the doorway. He didn't have a fever and aside from the sudden onset of gastric upset seemed in decent health.

"When did he start getting sick?" Aaron said to Judy as he worked.

"Half-way through the shift. We were staking out somewhere house looking for drugs," she explained.

"I heard about that. Find anything good?"

"Trash bags," Nick said. "Just bags of trash and some mammals going in and out of the building. They might have worked there. I don't know."

"Eat anything weird? Have you been feeling okay otherwise?" Aaron questioned him, writing down vital signs on a piece of paper.

"I was fine until a few hours ago when Judy called out. Came on suddenly. Just ate my usual stuff."

"So, didn't go eating anything you found in the garbage? Haven't gotten into the neighbor's chickens?" continued Aaron as he carried on with his exam.

"What?" Nick asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Aaron shook his head. "Nothing. Fox joke."

Nick sat bolt upright in a sudden jerk, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

"Oh cheese and crackers!" he said in a surprised voice. He jumped from the stretcher and bolted for the door, pushing past the others.

"Where are you going?" Aaron called running after him.

"Restrooms!" Nick called back over his shoulder, that sewage smell following him down the hall like a vapor trail.

Aaron watched him go, and stood, wondering what exactly what was going on.

Several hours later, the morning crew had arrived and Aaron began to pack his belongings up, stopping by the chief's office on the way out to give a debrief report on what had happened overnight.

"I think he'll be fine, sir. Most likely just some gastritis that will clear up in a few days. I don't want him on crew until I can recheck him though."

Bogo grumbled and looked at the staff roster, running late for morning briefings in the bullpen.

"I'm short officers already, and they are supposed to be on stakeout again tonight. We've got something going on out there, and I want them to get a report together so we can send your team in to deal with it. Can't do that without enough evidence to make a case of it."

"I understand chief, but think of it this way: This kind of thing is generally contagious. If we restrict him to home, worst case scenario is that he recovers from whatever bug he has, Judy maybe comes down with the same thing and recovers, they come back healthy and we don't have any further problems," Aaron explained.

"If we keep him out here, he's going to be useless on staff and probably running to the bathroom every ten minutes so he won't be good in the field. He could also spread the illness to the rest of the staff and then we have half the squad calling off work for the next week or so while it runs its course."

Bogo grumbled in a way that suggested he didn't agree with the plan, but had no real choice in the matter but to consent to it.

"Trust me on this, sir. I can help take care of Nick. I told him to see a doctor if he's not doing better in a day or so, and I can handle symptom management from his place. We're going to be down one, maybe two officers and this whole thing will blow over."

[LINE BREAK]

It did not blow over in the end like Aaron had proposed it would. By the end of the week, he had a line for his office out the door, and every night one or two more mammals would show up at the med bay to see Aaron for the same thing. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea combined with abdominal pain seemed to spread over the night crew like a gastric plague. Sometimes it was one officer, sometimes two, but Aaron had not yet had a shift go by in the past week where someone had not come in sick. He had taken to keeping a roll of plastic trash bags under his desk to replace the ones that were being used frequently for clean-up and fluid containment, and he had scheduled a meeting with the physician that acted as his medical control agent at the hospital to discuss the outbreak.

Ringgold sat on the exam table in Aaron's office, shirt unbuttoned and a queasy look on her face.

"Okay, so same question I'm asking everyone else. What did you get into?

"Oh come on, do we have time to play twenty questions right now? Just fix me already." she snarled at Aaron. She held the trash can which had seen much better times in recent days as a general refuse bin and less as a vomit basin.

"Can't fix the problem if I don't know what's going on," Aaron said wearily.

"Fine. We were on stakeout by that warehouse Hopps and Wilde were supposed to be going over. We were up on the roof, watching the place and we saw some buck come out and dump a few things in the trash, so I went down to check it out. Nothing good in there, and there are no windows for us to see inside."

"But he's fine though?" Aaron pointed at Raz who was standing in the office, leaning on the painted cinderblock wall with his arms crossed. The warthog snorted and looked up at Aaron and Ringgold.

"I'm doing great. I am unstoppable," he gloated.

"Only your mouth Raz," said Aaron, continuing on with his work.

Raz just made a snorting noise and continued to lean against the wall and look disinterested.

Aaron walked over to a cabinet mounted on a wall and unlocked it with one of his keys. "I just don't get it. Everyone keeps getting sick out here. Sometimes it's just one, sometimes two."

Ringgold leaned back over like she was going to be sick again. "You're the doc here. Aren't you supposed to know how this works? I probably picked this up from Wilde, that little hairball.

"Doubt it," said Aaron, pulling a glass medication vial from the cabinet and a hypodermic needle with a syringe.

"I was helping him that first night he got sick, and I hung out with you three the whole time. Of course he'd get me sick," Ringgold said.

"Hopps lives with him and she hasn't gotten sick," Aaron stated plainly.

"She's prey. Probably doesn't affect them."

"Higgens, Zilna, Koura, and Agate are all prey and they got the same thing. I've was going by Wilde's place for days afterward to check him, and I've been practically getting sprinkled in everyone's body fluids for a week now and I'm fine. I'm telling you it's something else doing this." Aaron finished drawing up the medication in the syringe and walked back to Ringgold with the needle.

"Fine, just give me something for this so I can go home and die in peace," she waved her fingers impatiently at Aaron.

"Give me your arm," Aaron ordered, taking her by the wrist.

"What is that stuff?" she asked, eyeing the medication with a suspicious glance.

"Carnidro. It's an anti-nausea drug. Should buy you a good eight hours of feeling a little better."

Ringgold relaxed her arm, and Aaron injected the drug, Ringgold hissing at him slightly when he poked her. He let her go with a sigh.

"Alright, get out of here you two. Stay hydrated, see a doctor if you aren't feeling better in three days and come find me before you come back to work."

Raz helped Ringgold down and they left the office, the leopard bolting from Raz's grip halfway out the door for the well-abused restrooms down the hall as they left. Aaron just closed the door and looked at his medication stock. He was going to have to raid a pharmaceutical company to refill the place. He looked at his list of staff officers and scratched Ringgold's name off the list. Time to go meet with the chief.

* * *

The overhead intercom rang with feedback as it clicked to life. "Ledbetter, to the chief's office. Ledbetter, please come to the chief's office." Clawhauser's voice squealed over the speaker in the hallways and Aaron turned to face the overhead speaker the voice had come from. He gathered his things and headed down the hall to where Bogo kept court. It was barely after seven in the evening, and he had just finished changing into his uniform. What could the head buffalo want this early in the night? It was too early for him to have gotten in trouble yet. Maybe this was a new record.

Aaron found the door to Bogo's office halfway opened and he walked inside without waiting for an invitation. The chief was sitting behind his desk with a red case folder and Evan stood next to him on the other side of the desk. He socked Aaron in the arm as he entered.

"Keeping you busy, huh?" said Evan with a grin.

"Very much so, sir." Aaron saluted and feigned a hit back at Evan. The tiger flinched and laughed.

"Ah, you almost got me there. We've got some good news for you," he said.

"What's that?"

Bogo placed the folder down on his desk and slid it over to Aaron, who picked it up and opened the flap to look at the contents.

"A change of scenery, as it was," Bogo said. "We're putting you and Bhara out on stakeout/scouting on a warehouse along the riverfront."

Aaron nodded. "I thought you had me on orders to stay here?"

"I'm running out of officers who are not sick to get this done and we want to get the recon phase of the scouting done so we can figure out what is really going on out there," Bogo sighed. "Frankly, I need you to go out there and see if you can figure out why everyone I send there gets sick within a few hours of assignment. This can't be a coincidence."

"Understood. I'll do what I can to figure it out," Aaron said.

"You better not catch whatever is going around out there, or we're all up the creek," Evan said, pointing at Aaron.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure whatever it is out there Bhara gets it instead."

Bogo gave Aaron a grim frown. "You take your orders from Bhara out there. I don't want to hear any remarks about you going off and doing your own thing," he commanded.

"Absolutely. Don't worry, we'll get it sorted out sirs," he said, and with that, he left to go gather his things for the night.

An hour later found Aaron on top of a rooftop next to Bhara. The two of them were dressed out in their field riot gear, sans helmets and laid on their bellies watching the entrance that led to the warehouse in question. Both of them had binoculars and were fixed on the worn metal door. The dumpster was still positioned next to the doorway and was filling with uncollected trash. Nobody had come or went the entire time.

"I bet it's something in the air, don't you think?" said Bhara out of the blue, interrupting the silence. Aaron lowered his binoculars and looked at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"What's making everyone sick. I think there's something in the air that's doing that," Bhara repeated himself. Aaron just shook his head. He was getting tired of everyone coming up with their own theories about the reasons for the rash of stomach problems.

"Here I thought sitting by the river and enjoying the fresh air was supposed to be good for you," Aaron said. "Besides, if this was airborne I think it would have spread faster and farther. I suppose if we both get sick in a few hours then that would give some credibility to your idea, but I think it's something else." He picked his binoculars back up and went back to watching the door. He was used to long hours of doing nothing when he had been with the military, but it didn't stop him from getting bored.

"You're smart," Bhara continued. "Why do you put up with all the shit from the guys?"

Aaron thought for a moment. "Because there really isn't much else for me to do about it. Smart doesn't mean it makes you friends."

"Well, some of us have your back, you know that, right?" Bhara said with a grin.

"I'm trying to keep things from getting to the point of anyone having to really rely on me."

"Looks like that backfired, you got half the department at your office," Bhara chuckled. "So, where'd you learn everything, anyway?"

Aaron paused and lowered his scope. He'd never really talked with Bhara that much. He rarely talked with the rest of his team on personal matters, and if he did he was pretty concise about what he said. Perhaps not the best way to make friends out of coworkers, but at the same time, he couldn't shake the feeling of still being an outsider.

"Military and working in research as a nurse. You know, the same way everyone learns this stuff," he joked, deflecting the question. Bhara persisted, however.

"Yeah, right. I heard you telling Wilde about that one time. You were doing some sort of big project when everything went down. What were you doing?"

We were…" Aaron hesitated. What did you say to that kind of thing?

_We were collecting DNA samples from humans and animals. We were transposing gene samples and trying to engineer them to be compatible with each other. We were trying to make a better human. Project Babel was meant to be an abomination and I helped them._ Aaron thought of all the things that had gone on there. He wasn't supposed to know what was going on behind the scenes, but he knew how to keep his ears open.

"It was a medical project, something I had some experience with on how to help. They never told me what it was about. Bad for Operational Security. I was just a low-level worker. Couldn't really tell you what it was about," Aaron lied. He knew what he was doing. He wasn't proud of it, but it didn't change the fact he'd done it without losing sleep over what he was doing. It had been all about the professional clout back then. Nursing research work had been hot stuff back then and if you were able to get on a government payroll you were practically set. If you could get associated with some high-tech, top-secret work, well, that was just icing on the cake. When his old platoon lieutenant had called him up with a job he claimed would be perfect with him for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, he didn't ask questions, he just went with it. Now several months of looking back at the whole thing through the lens of another universe and a new life he wondered if he had really made the right decision. This wasn't the time to go confessing his sins to Bhara though.

"What about you?" he asked. "What's your background?" Aaron again tried to redirect the conversation. The mammals of Zootopia were, if anything, like people had been, always eager to talk about themselves.

"Oh, that's a long story," Bhara said.

"Well, I don't think we're going anywhere for a while," said Aaron.

It was Bhara's turn to stop and think for a moment now. He seemed lost in thought about where to start then spilled forth with his story.

"Well, I grew up in a large family. I was one of eight brothers and sisters my parents had. Lots of cubs and not a lot of space for us growing up in the city. Got bullied a lot growing up," he said.

"You?" Aaron said, surprised. "I'd think bullying a lion would be a good way to earn a trip to the hospital.

"You'd be amazed," continued Bhara. "Lot of tensions between preds and prey. Got in a lot of fights when I was growing up. It was a way for the bullies to try and get some cred on the playground. 'See who can beat up the predators.' I always fought back though. Not sure if that made things better or worse. A lot of them seemed to like that. I wasn't an easy target and they liked to try and get me going, gang up on me. Got a lot of cuts, scrapes, and bruises out behind the schoolyard. Broke my arm. Twice in fact." He held his right arm up, looking at it and reminiscing.

"Color me shocked and amazed," said Aaron.

"I wasn't going to be pushed around. I mean, you should have seen what it was like. You didn't grow up here. From what I heard though, you took your licks at the academy," Bhara said.

Aaron thought back to the academy for a bit. He could see how that kind of thing could carry back to the general cruelty of children and the young in general, Everyone wanted to prove they were something. Like Bhara, Aaron remembered his attitude at the academy, he wasn't going to let them see him be weak.

"Of course, I was always the one that got in trouble for it. Most of the adults turned a blind eye to it. Most of them were prey themselves and it wasn't any business of theirs if the preds were getting put in their place," said Bhara, turning away from Aaron and looking back to the objective. "Even home wasn't much better. Like I said, it was a big family. Mom and Dad didn't have time to deal with every petty squabble that broke out amongst a bunch of rowdy cubs."

Aaron nodded in sympathy. "Yeah, it can be rough being the youngest of your siblings."

"I was the oldest."

"Oh," Aaron replied. He wasn't sure what to say to that kind of thing.

Bhara continued his sad saga. "I tried to be nice as much as I could though. Tried to help everyone when I could and be an upstanding kid. It didn't help much."

"What were you expecting out of it?" Aaron said, falling back on his same old philosophical concept that nobody was nice unless they wanted something.

"I was hoping to have allies. I wanted the people I helped to be able to back me up when trouble sprang up. It never works that way though, does it? They'd get what they wanted from me and then the moment things went wrong for me, nobody was there to help me. I mean, where's the justice in that?"

Aaron let the therapeutic silence set in a bit. He knew what that was like, to only have fair-weather friends growing up. Over time it did one of two things: It either built your character to the point you were unstoppable and self-reliant, or it made you angry, bitter and full of hatred for the world around you.

"So why this then?" Aaron pointed at Bhara's shoulder patch. "Why'd you end up becoming a cop?"

Bhara tilted his head back and forth in consideration of the question. "Like I said, I've got a strong sense of personal justice. I wanted to make an impact in the community. I decided that I was going to be a cop so I could help those that didn't have anyone to stick up for them when there was trouble. I figured the best way to do that was through direct action."

"Well, that's awfully noble of you," Aaron said. All things considered, he was surprised that Bhara had turned out to be one of the nicest animals to him on the SWAT team. By all rights, he should have been a complete jerk. Maybe that role had been filled already by Raz. Only so much ego you could fit into a room.

"I told you. Don't let them get to you. You know I've got your back, and I know you've got mine, right?" Bhara held his fist out sideways toward Aaron, still focused on the doorway of the warehouse. Aaron reached out and bumped his fist into Bhara's in agreement.

"Always. If I can do something to help, I will. Even if it just means shooting up the department with anti-nausea meds in the middle of the night."

"Speaking of: Twelve O'clock." Bhara pointed ahead of him. The door had groaned open in the darkness. Three animals walked out of the door from the roof they could see a light being turned off. A tall animal with a large rack of antlers exited the building, a reindeer or caribou, came outside, flanked by two other mammals of similar hooved persuasion. They turned right and walked down the sidewalk in a row. As they neared the end of the street, an older model car pulled up and stopped in the middle of the perpendicular intersection. The three climbed in, one of the escorts holding the door open for the reindeer that had first exited, and the car drove off with them inside.

"Follow them?" Bhara suggested, getting up from his position to watch where the car went and trying to see the plates on the car. Aaron held up a paw.

"I've got a better idea. If I may?"

"What have you got in mind?" Bhara asked, looking at Aaron who was taking a rappelling rope from the inside of Bhara's gear bag.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this illness, and I think I know where to start." He threw the rope off the side of the building and clipped into it, securing one end to an HVAC unit that was anchored to the roof behind him.

"What are you going to do?" Bhara said, confused and watching Aaron prepare to jump.

"I'm going to dig through the trash. Cover me," he said and pushed off from the roof.

Aaron clambered his way down the building in small descending vertical hops and came down gently at the bottom of the building below. He looked above him and gave Bhara thumbs up, which was returned with a confused wave. Unclipping from the rope, he snuck across the street and came to the dumpster. He unloaded his backpack from his shoulders and dug through it until he found a clump of exam gloves in one of the pouches. Pulling them on, he put a second pair on over them and found a set of forceps with ring-shaped tips.

He pulled himself into the dumpster and made a slit in a bag. It was again filled with the same collection of clear graduated cylinders, bits of moisture clinging to the sides. Using the forceps, he plucked one delicately from the package and set it aside, searching for something to contain it. He wasn't sure what he was dealing with but the liquid made him suspicious. Nothing the lab couldn't figure out, right?

He found a set of plastic bags in his gear and double bagged the cylinder, sealing it up carefully so it wouldn't break in transit. That done, he crouched down behind the dumpster and waved up to Bhara who was waiting still up on the rooftop, waiting for him.

Bhara watched Aaron work and saw him wave. He had no idea what their medic was on about at the second, but he seemed to have found something. He clipped into the rope and started his climb down to the surface, more to stop Aaron from getting into trouble than anything else. If the chief was right about anything it was that Aaron seemed to be good at getting himself into situations that were more major than he could work himself out of on his own. He wasn't about to have both of them get called to the carpet in a single night's work.

Bhara hit the ground, gear bag on his shoulder and crossed the street to Aaron. He ducked between streetlights and met up with Aaron who was grinning with a wicked, satisfied smile. He'd found something alright.

"Alright, so what is it?" Bhara said, looking at the container. "I know you didn't come here for just any garbage you found. You aren't a raccoon."

Aaron held up the contained cylinder. "Got liquid all over the inside. Think forensics could do a little chemical analysis work for us? I've got a feeling that's got something to do with it all."

Bhara shrugged and reached for the container. "That's what they're there for. He almost picked up the bag when Aaron slapped his paw away.

"Don't touch it. I don't trust whatever is in there. Put it in the bag and wash anything that came in contact with it." He picked the bag up with the forceps and placed it inside Bhara's gear bag, afraid of contaminating all his medical equipment in a single go.

"Alright, let's finish up here and get back to over watch. I don't want to get caught out here alone." Bhara said cautiously. He was watching the road, seeing if that car would come back.

Aaron held up a finger, asking Bhara to wait a moment. "Let's check inside, I think they're all gone."

Bhara kept watching the road and considered the proposal. He nodded. "Okay, let's see if we can get inside. Quietly! I don't want this turning into something." He turned to the door and tried the doorknob, it was locked as he suspected. Having come without lockpicks he didn't want to try breaking the door down with a pry bar. Aaron pushed him aside and gave Bhara a knowing look. He pushed a claw into the lock and started fiddling around inside, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth in concentration. Eventually, his claw rotated clockwise, and the lock made a quiet click. Aaron gave a wide, toothy grin.

"Alright, so where'd you learn that trick?" Bhara asked, mildly impressed.

"Bullying at the academy," Aaron said. The cryptic answer made no sense, and Bhara decided that this wasn't the time to ask follow-up questions. He opened the door and pushed inside, moving slowly.

The inside of the warehouse was dim, the glow from the surrounding streetlights casting the inside in a ghostly, pale haze. Bhara led the way inside, looking around. The interior was a high-ceilinged open room; rebar struts arcing over the top of the room, holding the roof up. Tables had been set up all along the interior, loaded with equipment. Whoever was working out of here had some serious equipment available. Distillery pipes, Bunsen burners and cobbled electronics were scattered across the tables. Drums of unlabeled chemicals were stacked along one wall, and hazardous material protection suits of various sizes had been hung off the other one.

"Where'd they get all this?" Aaron wondered out loud. The equipment looked semi-professional, but nothing else pointed to it being a legitimate manufacturing center for anything. Gas masks accompanied the HazMat suits to compensate for the lack of ventilation in the place, and the floor was dirty and pitted concrete. No corporate logos, no offices, nothing that indicated legitimate workings in the place, but at the same time it was much better equipped than someone who was trying to manufacture illegal drugs and narcotics.

"Forget that, what are they making?" Bhara whispered.

Aaron shrugged. The containers had no markings that he recognized on them. He tilted one by the edge and could hear liquid sloshing around inside. It was heavy and full. He thought briefly of trying to see if he could open it but then thought of the residue on the side of the graduated cylinder he had swiped. If that was what was causing sudden illness, what did the other materials contain? He resumed browsing the tables, like he was shopping at a store, ignoring Bhara's ever increasing look of concern that they would be found there. The one thing he didn't find was notes. No schematics, plans, chemical formulae or mixing instructions. Whoever had been working there must have taken them when they left. So whatever it was, they were keeping their plans close to their chest.

On one table, a dozen or so small glass ampules were stacked in a bin. They looked like bullets with a blunt tip and thin neck and were empty. Aaron couldn't figure out if they were to contain a product, or if they were used in mixing and manufacturing. There was a flash behind him and Aaron spun around in surprise to see Bhara taking photos of the tables with a small camera. The flash dazzled Aaron's eyes for a moment.

"Come on. We don't have all night to be in here. The longer we stay, the more likely we're going to leave behind clues that we were here," Bhara said, pocketing the camera and waving Aaron toward the door.

Aaron took one more look around, trying to see if he could find something that would tell him what they had stumbled on. Bhara was right though. There was only one way in and out of the building and if the car came back at any time they would be trapped.

"Let's get out of here with what we've got, and get back to post. We can drop that stuff off with the lab when we get back." Bhara opened the door and looked around before escorting Aaron out after assuring it was clear.

They climbed back up the ropes to the top of the opposite building's roof, Aaron watching himself and Bhara to see if either of them would become acutely ill at some point. The night passed however without incident and very little conversation, both of them racking their brains over what they might have stumbled upon.

* * *

The forensics lab was brightly lit, and the place had a slight sci-fi feeling to it. Technicians were bent over workstations, analyzing a backlog of potential evidence to be turned back over to investigation teams. Benning had, presumably, a better budget and available technology than what Aaron had expected a large city forensics laboratory would have but seemed less well equipped.

Two techs were busy fawning over the sample glass that Aaron and Bhara had brought back with them overnight.

Aaron was standing in the corner, only half awake. It had been a long night and was shaping up to be another long day. He wanted to go home and curl up next to Shay and get some real serious sleep, but at the same time he was also itching to know about what he had found and if it was involved in the sudden spike in gastrointestinal illness that had sprung up suspiciously around the station.

A gazelle who had been observing the whole process through a spectroscope walked over and stripped his gloves off, tossing them in a biohazard waste can.

"So, we looked at the chemical residue inside that glass you brought us, as a priority too, I might add as a favor. The material inside is alpha-Naphthyl N-methylcarbamate. Took a moment of looking through the chemical database, but we figured it out." He smiled proudly.

Aaron looked at the tech like he was speaking a different language. "Can you say that once more for me, use smaller words?"

The tech sighed. "It's an insecticide. Used for killing bugs. When mammals get exposed to it, it causes transient nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea. Absorbs through ingestion, and mucous membranes."

"Hah! I knew it!" Aaron cheered, pumping his fist. His outburst drew several dirty looks from the rest of the lab, which was otherwise as quiet as a library.

"Anyway," Aaron said, quieter now. "What was it being used for?"

"I couldn't tell you that part," said the tech peevishly.

"Not even a guess?" Aaron said, trying to at least get something more he could report back with. In truth, the whole thing bothered him. Every crew they had sent out there who had come in contact with the alpha-whatever had come back sick, and when he finally got a step ahead of the game in figuring that part of the mystery out, he now had more questions about what kind of cooked-up terror the unknown chemists had been trying to make out of it. He was no expert in chemical manufacturing, but he didn't think it was the next generation in home bug spray and flea prevention.

"Okay, let me put this to you plainly," the tech explained to him like he was lecturing five-year-old. "Imagine if I gave you a puzzle piece, and a room filled with an almost limitless room full of puzzles and told you to figure out what puzzle it went to, how long do you think you could go before you figured out where that piece fit? Because that's what you've given me. Without some sort of compounding instructions, this could be used to make almost anything."

Aaron frowned. It was no use trying to squeeze more information out of the conversation if the tech insisted that was all there was to it. It least it was a step in the right direction. Time to go deliver the report to the chief and go home.

* * *

The phone rang, and a paw reached out to answer it. The call was coming from an unidentified number, and the small mammal smiled. This was a good thing. Anonymous callers usually meant a job. Jobs meant money. Money meant the ability to afford some of the finer things in life that he enjoyed, like a good glass of whiskey on a warm night.

"Yes?" he said, not bothering to identify himself. If the caller had his number, than they already knew who they were talking to.

"I have some work for you." The caller was female, with a steady, cool voice. A practiced talker and someone who obviously didn't take 'no' for an answer.

"It's a simple one. The target is Aaron Ledbetter. I think you are already familiar with him?"

He closed his eyes and thought. He pictured himself looking down the scope of his rifle. A lion locked in a struggle with a brown bear, instructions on whom to kill and not to kill. Watching his target from the corner of a nightclub, waiting for the right moment to make a move, and for someone else to make theirs.

"We've met before you could say, yes," he said. "Is it his time to go?"

"No," said the voice, so sharp and hard it could cut glass. "These instructions come to me from our mutual employer. I'm simply here to relay the message. Mr. Ledbetter has a laptop computer that he uses at work. He frequently brings it home with him. They would like the laptop retrieved. The method of this is up to you. The package is to be left at the usual dead drop. The money will be credited to you following package pickup."

"Of course. What about the target?"

"It is imperative he is kept alive. Our benefactor is trying to determine if he is a viable target for repurposing or suppression, but they need what he knows first. We will call with further instructions as they become pertinent."

"Very well ma'am. I will do it. It shouldn't be hard. I know where he works."

He disconnected the phone and looked at the calendar. This wouldn't take long at all.


	20. Run, Rabbit Run

Nick and Judy plodded their way into the bullpen, just in time for morning briefing. They sat next to each other as they always did, sharing the same oversized chair near the front and next to McHorn. Judy gave McHorn her usual cheerful greeting and he merely grunted, as was his usual response. The dynamic between early birds and night owls was a beautiful dance to observe.

Chief Bogo came into the room with case files stacked high, and slapped them down on the podium so hard it drew the attention of the entire room in a snap. "Alright, let's get this over with. I haven't had my coffee yet, so I want to be out of here quickly."

"Let me guess: one gallon, black and no filter right?" Nick said with a wide grin. There were a few subtle chuckles from the back which hushed as soon as Bogo gave a glare so dark it could have sucked the light from the room.

"We had a busy night and that means a busy morning for us. Assignments as follows. Fangmeyer, Grizzoli, Delgato: We got a call a short while ago from out in Tundra Town from an address. Resident says they went outside and someone stole their RV. Yes, the entire thing. Go check it out. Pennington, Anderson and Johnson: There was a break-in and robbery at Shockpaw Electronics in Sahara Square last night, it was discovered when the employees came to open. Go and relieve the investigation team there. Finally, I am assigning additional officers to traffic control today. As I'm sure many of you noticed, the freeway traffic was bad today. Last night we had a shipment of confiscated weapons in a truck being sent for disposal. The truck broke down in the at the beginning of morning rush hour and was stuck in the middle of the road until a relief truck could make it out there to pick up the trailer. Tow trucks have just managed to clear the tractor from the road, but the damage to the morning commute is already done. Wilde, since you seem to have jokes this morning, you can have that assignment. Hopps, go with him. If he has anything smart to say, please use your Taser on him. Dismissed!"

The crews left, grabbing their folders and filing out of the room. Nick sat in his chair with a sour expression. Nobody had a sense of humor around this place; these were downright intolerable working conditions.

They walked out of the bullpen, Judy giving Nick a dirty look the entire way, and passed by Aaron as he was walking out of the lobby, his bag on his shoulder and laptop tucked under an arm.

"Just leaving?" Judy asked, walking beside Aaron.

"Yep," Aaron said with a yawn. "Two more night shifts, and then back to days. Just enough time to really mess up my sleep schedule."

Nick thought about making a joke about sleeping when he was dead, then considered everything they had been through and decided it might be a bad omen.

Just outside the front door, they turned left and headed a few feet down the sidewalk, Nick and Judy walked to the motor pool, and Aaron headed for the light rail further down. It was bright and sunny, a beautiful morning. Morning commuters clogged the roadways, and mammals in suits, ties and business attire scurried along the sidewalks; it was a typical crowded weekday morning in the city.

Not far in front of them, a rabbit in a slick looking tailored suit jacket and pressed pants pushed his way through the crowds, doing his best to avoid being stepped on by the larger denizens of the city's population. He squirmed past an elephant walking the other way and taking up most of the pavement and held up a paw when he saw Aaron, increasing his pace. Aaron only just noticed him as he got closer, Nick and Judy stopping beside him for the moment. The rabbit was a light grey, the color of brushed steel, with black stripes that extended from the middle of his back and wrapped around the sides of his head and onto the sides of his face as well as a pair of bands around the ears and black tips. His eyes were a pale blue, like the color of fresh water. He was slightly taller and more slender than Judy, and Aaron realized he was probably a different species of rabbit altogether.

"Excuse me! Pardon! Mr. Ledbetter?" The rabbit hurried up to Aaron and stopped in front of him, grabbing Aaron's attention.

"Yes?" Aaron said, confused about how the rabbit knew who he was. It was nobody he recognized.

"Excuse me, do you have a moment? It's very important I talk to you." he said. His voice was quite direct and had a slight accent that Aaron couldn't place in this world.

Aaron looked at his watch. He had twenty minutes to get to the rail platform before he missed the next express train that dropped off near his new apartment. Not a lot of time for extended conversations. "I'm off duty, and very tired. Keep it quick," he said in a curt voice.

"Oh, I promise, this won't take long at all." The gray bunny smiled congenially. Just as Aaron was about to ask for him to get on with his request, the bunny leapt straight up in the air and kicked out with his right foot, catching Aaron right in the groin.

Aaron doubled over, vision exploding into colors and pain radiating up his stomach. He felt a sudden urge to throw up and dropped his laptop. Judy and Nick were frozen wearing matching shocked looks at the sudden assault. The other rabbit landed neatly back on his feet, and caught the laptop before it could hit the ground. He tucked the computer close to his body, and was off down the sidewalk before Aaron could even register fully what happened. Around them, mammals on the road had stopped to watch the spectacle. Aaron curled up on the sidewalk, holding himself like his midriff would burst out. From the front steps of the station, Lyssa was looking at the whole ordeal and ran over to help Aaron, who was rolled up in a tight ball on his side on the pavement.

"What happened?" Lyssa asked Aaron.

"Don't worry about that, get him!" Aaron groaned, pointing down the road. The bunny was already halfway down the street now, Aaron's laptop still clutched to his chest. He was fast for holding something so unwieldy for his size.

The bunny ran down the sidewalk, dodging foot traffic and trying to put some distance between him and the station. He glanced behind him and could see Judy and Nick already in pursuit. He just had to lose them and then get to the dead drop. Not hard to do in the heavy outdoor population. If that didn't do the job, he still had some good tricks up his sleeves.

He slid between two hippos walking hand-in-hand down the road, dodging between their hands and slipping into an ally. A chain link fence blocked one end of the alley on the far side and he tried to scramble up the side, but couldn't with both arms occupied. He had forgotten to take into account the size of the laptop relative to his own when he'd accepted the job. Of course, stealing the laptop in broad daylight didn't make the job any easier, but he had figured the option would have been faster and easier than trying to figure out where his target lived now and breaking in to steal it. He wanted the money, but compounding his crimes never made things easier.

Assessing the height of the fence he decided on the fun option. He tossed the computer up in the air and jumped, clearing the fence top and catching the laptop in a single action. He hit the ground with some grace and took a look behind him. He couldn't see the other two officers behind him and made the assumption that they had lost him for the moment.

Judy, Nick, and Lyssa sprinted after the assailant. They had no idea who they were chasing, but after watching him kick Aaron to the curb and run off with his stuff in the middle of a crowded street they didn't need a whole lot of introduction. The fuzzy would-be thief was fast and small, which gave him a considerable advantage in the streets, but Nick hoped the oversized laptop suitcase would slow him down. Judy on the other hand was small, fast, and fueled by a righteous sense of justice, and she practically flew through the crowds of mammals, Nick following and leaving Lyssa behind. The wolf had to try and barrel his way past pedestrians just like the SWAT sergeants had trained him to, pushing everyone out of the way like he was a freight train, teeth exposed and growling. Judy watched the furry little thug duck and take cover in an alley, but by the time she rounded the corner he was gone. Nick and Lyssa caught up a moment later. Now they had lost sight of him, and it would be hard to pick him back up. Lyssa jerked his head right, zeroing in on something.

"Hey! He's over there. Stop!" he barked, and the chase was back on.

Just as soon as the bunny thought he had gotten clear he heard the sharp cry from the wolf. He had a brief moment of fear. Now there were three of them to contend with, with more possibly on the way. He was a professional though and this wasn't the first foot chase where he'd had to outwit his pursuers. He just needed to split them up from one another and lose them that way. He dashed across the street, dodging traffic and ignoring the blaring car horns. His lungs burned and his arms were sore from carrying the laptop's case while he ran awkwardly, but he made it across without becoming roadkill. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see the wolf officer coming across the road, and roll himself off the hood of an oncoming car, yelling at the driver as he tumbled

"Drat." he said unenthusiastically, and sprinted between two buildings. He could not get caught with this thing. If his liaison was coming from the last employer he had been dealing with when he had saved Ledbetter from the rooftop that night, they were serious, organized and ready to use whatever they had at their disposal to make things go their way. Failure was not an option, nor a consideration. He slid under a small, weather worn fence that divided up the alley between two buildings like an afterthought of city planning. His feet and pant cuffs kicked up small clouds of dried dirt that swirled in the air, a telltale sign of his passing.

Lyssa sprinted across the road, oblivious to the oncoming cars. There was something very canine about a wolf chasing a rabbit, and it fueled him at a primal level. Nick and Judy made it safely across the road a moment later, with Judy sprinting at a breakneck speed and leaping over the curb, landing almost clear of the opposite end of the sidewalk. She dashed past Lyssa, Nick behind her and the two of them went under the boards near the fresh footprints in the dust. They took an over and under approach, Judy slipping through a gap in the boards and Nick scrambling over the tops just in time to see the grey rabbit turn the corner to the right. He was headed for the metro station.

Lyssa turned back around the way he came and ran north up the block, hoping to cut him off from the other end, but wasn't fast enough. He saw a small group of beavers get knocked out of the way as the rabbit ran to the stairs of the passenger rail station. Judy and Nick rendezvoused with Lyssa at an intersection and they ran up just in time to see the train at the station with the doors open.

The bunny pushed his way onto the train and squeezed his way through the embarking and disembarking passengers, using them as cover. His diminutive height gave him the advantage of being able to get underneath everyone and he ran between the wide stance of a tiger in jeans and t-shirt with an uttered apology, taking his place at the far end of the car near the door. He counted in his head the seconds till the doors would close. Judy made the top of the platform before anyone else, and was joined by Nick and an out of breath Lyssa a moment later. They arrived just in time to see the train doors close and the train roll off to the east. Nick scrubbed at his face and Lyssa just looked defeated. Judy stood on the platform, her foot thumping rapidly on the metal surface with a rattling sound. As the train headed around a corner, she waved the other two over to her and spoke in a whisper.

The train departed and the rabbit smiled to himself from his hiding place behind a trashcan. He peeked around the corner of the barrel and didn't see the other two officers. He had snuck out the other side of the train just as the doors had closed, almost catching his jacket sleeve in the doors. He'd have to get it dry cleaned after all this running about. Casually walking down the stairs on the other side of the elevated platform he had come from, he could see the three officers standing at the foot of the stairs on the other side of the road. It wouldn't take but a moment more of hiding and then he could walk easily to the drop point, make some phone calls and retreat to the nearest bed for the rest of the day till everything cleared over.

He walked around the base of the pillars that supported the platform as nonchalantly as possible, trying not to attract attention. The officers were crossing the street at the nearby crosswalk, and looking all over the place for him. On the side of a building no more than a dozen meters away he could see a dumpster. Not the most luxurious of places to hide, but it beat jail, or whatever his contractor would do to him if he failed.. He could make the cleaners work for their wages. He sauntered down to the dumpster and looked around. Nobody was looking, and he'd lost sight of the police. He jumped to the top of the rubbish bin, spring boarding off a set of stuffed trash bags and lifted the lid. The odor was offensive, but there was enough room to hide in for a few minutes. He slipped inside and watched the streets from a gap in the lid. Not a moment later he could see the three ZPD officers run by in a hurry. He could tell from the manner in which they'd looked around that he'd lost them. He smiled and breathed out heavily, catching his breath. He realized as he let the air out of his lungs that he was going to have to inhale again, and held his nose. The stench was powerful enough he could taste it. It tasted like sour milk and victory.

He waited a few minutes longer and when he was satisfied that they were not coming back this way, he opened the lid further and looked about. He didn't see anyone, and there was a gap in the pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk next to him. Just enough time to neaten himself up and then take a leisurely walk with his new acquisition to the drop point.

He climbed from the dumpster and stood outside, brushing detritus from his sleeves and scooping a wet wad of paper from his right front jacket pocket with a disgusted scowl on his face. Ensuring he looked as professional as he could despite the stains, he nodded to himself and was getting ready to walk away. Just as he put his foot forward, something grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up on the ground. He almost dropped the laptop on the ground and a red paw reached around him to relieve him of it. He tried to spin around and see who had snatched him up so indecently, but only managed to make himself swing in the air uselessly.

"Gotcha you little fuzz ball. I know how to be sneaky too," he heard a cool, sarcastic voice say. He looked backwards to see the fox that had been chasing him holding him in the air.

"That you do," he admitted. He still had some tricks to show off though. He squirmed, the skin off the back of his neck hurting and managed to get some forward momentum, intending to kick the fox in the gut and force him to drop everything. Looking behind him, just as he reached the apex of his swing, something in front of him caught him by the feet and he looked forward again in shock. That wolf.

Lyssa and Judy had reappeared from around the corner where they had hid out of view. Lyssa held the bunny by his broad feet, preventing him from pulling any improvised martial arts. His captive twisted uselessly in the air as Nick and Judy pulled his arms behind his back, binding his wrists with zip ties.

"You're under arrest for assaulting an officer and theft of property," she read him his rights in an unceremonious manner. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Judy spoke in an obnoxiously officious tone. He looked at the other bunny who was standing beside him and raised his eyebrows.

"No."

"Wonderful, then you can come back to the station with us and we'll talk. I'm sure you've got a great story to tell," she said.

"You may find yourself disappointed," he said back in a plain voice.

Nick patted him down head to toe. He failed to find any weapons, contraband or any other contents of note.

"Gee, no wallet? You know all citizens over eighteen are required to carry ID with them when out in public," Nick lectured him in his usual smug voice, that irritating smile still glued to his face.

"Must have left it at home officer," the rabbit explained. "What kind of thievery do you think I'm doing that I'd carry easy ID on me? I've got a reputation to maintain."

"Oh, don't worry. We've got ways of figuring out who you are. Just means we get to hang out longer. Don't worry, we make great company," Nick said.

With that said, they dragged their new acquisition off to the station for booking, Aaron's laptop tucked safely away under Lyssa's arm.

* * *

Inside the station he found himself booked, photographed, searched from head to toe with a fine toothed comb and led to the interrogation room where he sat, handcuffed and shackled to the table. He waited, and when that got boring he waited some more.

At one point, the door opened, and a gazelle in a lab coat came in, followed by Nick and Judy. The technician held a set of electric small clippers in one hand and came at him from behind.

"Lean your head forward," the tech ordered.

"Excuse me?" he asked indignantly. He was used to rough treatment before, but this seemed far beneath his dignity. Not to mention that the job was basically now a wash. He still didn't know who hired him, but he was sure that they would not be pleased in the slightest if they got word of the outcome.

"You heard him," Nick said, that smug sounding voice gone, replaced by something more serious. It seemed that he was capable of more than just smart-alecky quips.

He leaned his head forward as ordered and tried to see what was going on behind him out of the corner of his eyes. He could hear a buzzing sound and then something scrape across the back of his head at the base of the ear.

"Ouch," he said more out of instinct than actual pain.

"Oh, that doesn't hurt," The lab tech patted him on the head. It was so condescending that it almost made him puke. "Thank you for your cooperation," he said before heading out the door with Nick and Judy. He twisted his head around and tried to use the limited reach afforded by his handcuffs to feel what had happened. He managed with some discomfort to get his ear close enough to the table to feel around and could feel a small missing patch of fur from behind his ear. He'd been shaved! Of all the things to go wrong today, this was just adding insult to everything. He spent a lot of time grooming in the mornings and making sure he looked his best and now he'd have to go around looking like he had a spot of very neat, precise fleas.

He dropped his head onto the table with a thud, and mourned the time he'd spend combing out his fur this morning. He only looked up when he heard the door open again with a squeak. He lifted his head, wondering who was coming this time and what bits they would be relieving him of. He looked at who had entered and his heart sank even further to see a lion in a police uniform walk inside, holding an ice pack and walking with an appreciable limp. He didn't even need to read his nametag to know exactly who it was. Hadn't he just attempted to beat his gonads back into his stomach an hour ago? All for a laptop for an unnamed buyer.

"You again?" he said, dejected.

"Yeah, me again," Aaron said, literally and figuratively sore. "You've got some questions to answer for me."

"Or what?" he said as snide as he could, "You'll poke me with needles till I beg for mercy?"

Aaron stood before the bunny, holding the ice bag over his crotch and trying to avoid walking. "Don't you tempt me. If I wasn't in the mood for jokes before this, I'm certainly not now. Who are you?"

The rabbit looked up and tried to keep up appearances. "I'm nobody. If you think I'm just going to give up information to you, you've got another thing coming."

"Oh, no. No," Aaron shook his head. "This is freaking Zootopia. Everyone is something here and you are the little twat that stole my laptop." Aaron pointed an accusing finger at the rabbit where he was relatively contained. "So what was it to you? Why'd you want that thing so bad?"

"Well, those things sell well at the pawn shops and black markets. You just happened to have one that was easy to get to."

"I'm not buying that line at all. You were targeting me the whole time," Aaron said with a frown.

"Bit of a superiority complex you've got there, isn't it? How would you know what I want?"

"You knew who I was before you even did anything. You greeted me by name, and you knew exactly where to find me and when. Don't try telling me that this was just some random snatch and grab. There are a thousand others out there with computers, phone and electronics. If you just wanted something you could sell you would have just done it, not come and found me outside the largest police station in the entire metropolitan area," Aaron said, almost yelling.

He cursed himself. He'd talked himself into a corner with his way of getting Ledbetter's attention from the beginning. Perhaps it would have been better to simply have figured out where he lived and stolen the item in the dead of night?

"So, why my computer? Why did you want that? Were you looking for something on it?" Aaron said, calming himself. He watched the bunny carefully, analyzing him. Something about him looked familiar, but there were too many other mammals in the city to place him. He stopped and had a thought, his face changing expressions from angry to one of sudden realization. "You didn't want it, did you? Someone else wanted it from you. Am I right?"

The bunny let his facial expression betray him for a split second. How did Ledbetter figure that out? Did he already know who the buyer was? He couldn't have known, could he? Even he wasn't sure how deep things went. It was just supposed to be a simple job.

"There you go with that self-superiority again," he chided Aaron. "You don't know what I wanted it for and I'm not telling you."

"You just wait. I'm going to be back and I promise you, I'll get to the bottom of this," Aaron said threatening him with the implication. With that, he walked out the door, limping the whole way.

The rabbit leaned back in his seat as much as he could. They didn't know who he was, and there was nothing on him that would pinpoint that information. Nose prints would still be classified and most of his information was redacted. He'd never been caught at a job either to put him in the police database. One thing was for certain. Ledbetter was smarter than he looked and it wouldn't do to get mad at this point. Time to engineer a graceful exit strategy.

* * *

Judy walked into the interrogation room followed by Nick and finally Aaron, who trailed them at a bit of a distance.. She held a sheaf of papers in her right paw, and passed one each to both Nick and Aaron. Nick looked at the papers and smiled broadly like he had just won the lottery. Aaron stood near the door and looked at the paper, then to the prisoner and back at his paper again, an unreadable expression on his face. Judy sidled up to the other rabbit, who hoped that having a second bunny in the room would buy him some slight grace, even though she had seemed less than friendly at the time of his arrest. She set the paper down in front of him and he looked at it in shock. Everything he hoped was not on her print out was right there, in bold letters.

"So," she began, reading from beside him in a loud voice. "Savage, Jack. Thirty eight years old, former intelligence agency operative. Left the agency under unusual circumstances. Unknown address and not seen in the public eye since that point. Trained in assassination, target neutralization and retrieval work as a field agent. Sound about right?" Did the Agency really remove all the black bars from his file after all these years? He hadn't left under the best of circumstances, but would they really burn him like this? Sure, he had not been on the best terms with the head of the group. Sure, he had not always been the most respected of agents. Sure, he had done some things that were seen as less than professional. Everything since had just been side work though. Something to keep the rent paid. There was a real market for someone who could get things done and not ask too many damning questions when there was money involved. He hung his head. "So, I guess the game is up then?" he said, hopeful that he might still get out of this in one piece.

"Game. Over," Aaron said pointedly, tapping his paper with a claw and rolling it up into a tube.

"Fine then," Jack said, not ready to give up yet. There was a saying about catching flies with honey. Perhaps he could talk his way out of the problem and then deal with his contractor at a later time. He hoped it wouldn't mean leaving the city in the middle of the night, or worse; in a body bag.

"Tell me one thing first: How did you find out? I have a clean record. I know they wouldn't release nose and paw prints on me. They aren't that loose with their old records. So how did you do it?" he asked, as calmly as possible. Aaron wasn't sure about how they had managed to dig up all the records himself and was interested to hear the answer.

Nick held up a small sealed bag containing the sample of Jack's fur that had been so unceremoniously removed from his head. "You left a bit of fur behind on the rooftop that night. You remember that, don't you? I know I do," he said.

Both Jack and Aaron dropped their jaws for similar but different reasons.

"You were there!" snapped Aaron, striding over to where Jack still sat. He looked ready to have him torn to pieces. What a way to treat a guardian.

Jack held up a finger and pointed at the clear window that lined the wall. "Ah, I'd advise against getting too rough with the suspect, sir, you're being observed."

Aaron looked over his shoulder. Chief Bogo stood with his arms crossed and watching them all through the window. Allison Percora was next to him, a clipboard and pen at the ready, and looking like she was just waiting for Aaron to break his professionalism so she could nail him to the wall.

Aaron shook out his mane and counted to ten in his head. "Okay. Here's how this is going to work the way I see it. You can tell me what I want, and maybe, just maybe I won't press charges. Or you can continue to play dumb with me and I'll do my absolute best to see that you go someplace far away from here for a very long time."

Jack stayed silent. The overblown medic wasn't in a true position of power here, but the other two would probably back him up to the moon and back if he asked for it.

"Why my laptop? What did you want it for and who were you giving it to?" Aaron carried on, not waiting for a reply. He didn't need to have the jackrabbit tell him where he stood in the world right now.

"I don't know," Jack said plainly.

Aaron turned away and started to go back to the door. "Alright then. Judy, I'm going to go talk to the chief. I'll be back in a moment."

"Wait!" Jack called from his chair. Aaron stopped and turned back around, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know who wanted it. I just get the calls and do the job. I don't ask questions. They called and said they wanted your computer specifically. I didn't ask why."

"Oh, well I'm sure someone out there likes having someone who can keep a secret," Aaron said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It doesn't matter anyway. We're likely both dead when they find out about this."

"What was that?" Aaron asked, his attention now fully on Jack.

"I don't know who I'm working for but considering what they've asked for, I don't think they are going to take my failure lightly."

Aaron looked to Jack. "So start talking. Like I said, give me what I want, and I'll go away. What were you doing that night? Were you trying to kill me?"

Jack watched the observers all around him. He was really in the hot seat now.

"I can honestly say I was not. I had been asked to provide some protection. Specifically for you."

Nick brightened, "Hey, that's cute. You've got your own bodyguard now."

Jack bristled. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to call bunnies 'cute?' Again, I was asked to carry out a job and I simply did that. This is not some personal favor."

"I should thank your contractor for that I suppose, but why? Why did they want me safe? There is nothing that special about me." Aaron was lying. He could think of a dozen things about him that made him stand out like a sore thumb. He didn't think any of them believed his statement.

"They didn't tell me anything, just what they wanted done," Jack said. He shuddered to himself. He'd never been caught doing a job and he always wondered about how he'd handle it. Apparently running his mouth was a coping mechanism.

"So tell me what you do know," said Aaron, leaning over toward Jack. "Inquiring minds want to know. I want to know. I already found out who the bear was, and this is really fascinating. My own savior, face to face, after trying to engage in petty theft."

Jack just sighed and looked away from his interrogators. Judy and Nick had self-satisfied smiles on their faces. Nick even looked like he was ready to get some popcorn and watch the show.

"I don't know who contacts me. The numbers are anonymous, just as I like them." He sat back and recounted the events of that night through closed eyes.

"I was contacted by someone who told me who you were. They said they had reason to believe that you would be in danger. That someone was going to try and harm you. They said they just needed me to tail you and make sure you survived the evening."

"Survived the evening? So they knew about…him." Aaron sputtered, almost afraid to utter the Graham's name, not yet ready to mentally to let go of what had happened to him. He wondered if he'd ever forget it.

"Well, someone knew something, that's why they called me."

"Well, keep talking. I'm enjoying the sound of your voice," Aaron said, cajoling him.

Jack smiled smugly to himself. He got that comment a lot. He took a moment to think back to what had happened. He'd really talked himself into a hole this time, not a good place to be. Still, there might be a way to come out on safe in this; if he couldn't placate his enemies, perhaps he could simply make new alliances, if he talked fast and could make it out of here in one piece. The first part was going to take some planning, but he knew what to do. The second part was a natural talent.

' _Keep him alive. We need to find out what he knows. If he dies, his information goes with him._ ' Jack remembered the phone call now. He remembered picking out his tools for the evening, standing in the crowded nightclub and standing in the back, watching the crowd. The music was loud and not to his taste. The lights flashed in his eyes, obscuring his vision of his assigned target, dancing with a jaguar. Had they made eye contact at one point? He thought they had.

"I was only told that you knew something important, and someone wanted that knowledge."

Aaron was lost now. Graham had wanted him dead. Who wanted him alive? What was so important that someone would have tailed him all night and even killed someone just to make sure he didn't take his mysterious information to the grave? Obviously his knowledge of medicine was nothing special. There were hundreds of mammals who knew more than he did. He never discussed exactly what he had done back at Fort Benning with Project Babel enough to make it known that he was aware of the project intentions and even if he did, it wasn't like there was anyone who could make use of that here.

"What did they want from me?" he asked, giving up on racking his brain.

"I have no idea. That would have entailed asking questions, something I don't do." Jack reminded him, confident but not quite so snide now.

"So they want my computer now? Think that's got some really juicy stuff on it?"

"Perhaps you know something you don't realize?" Jack said, suggesting something that Aaron hadn't considered. He had Aaron thinking now. His tactic was working.

"So what's the problem? You're alive, thanks to me."

Aaron growled, "The problem is that I had someone try to kill me, and everyone present in this room one late night, and now he's gone, but I don't think after everything you've told us, that this is over."

Nick pulled Aaron aside from where they were standing. "Stop being paranoid. He's dead, we all saw that. I don't know what this guy is on about, but this this isn't some hardcore conspiracy," he whispered.

"He's not telling me everything. He comes and just happens to track us down and save us from Graham's hitman, and now he shows up to try and get ahold of my computer. I end up with a dozen officers that are sick as hell and find a high tech chem lab on the edge of downtown, with nothing to connect it to. I'm telling you, there's a pattern here," Aaron hissed back at Nick. He looked over his shoulder, seeing Jack with a single racing-striped ear turned toward the two of them. "Yeah, I see you listening to me." He shot a look at him.

Nick noticed the same thing and went to the door, waving Aaron outside. Judy followed the two of them out, leaving Jack alone in the room. The chief and IA investigator had departed the area. It seemed that they had found more entertaining things to waste their time on.

Nick wandered a bit away from the window to the interrogation room, in case the prisoner could read lips as well. He was taking a lot of interest in Aaron and while it was somewhat intriguing and suspicious, it just didn't scream some sort of bigger inner workings.

"Look, Graham is dead. We all saw that. He's gone, you aren't, and just because he's trying to nab your computer doesn't mean all this is somehow connected." Nick spoke slowly, making his point clear.

Aaron paced further away from the room, making his way down the hallway. "I'm just saying there's no way this isn't related somehow. Someone has some resources and they're using them to get at me. I don't believe that this is all unrelated."

"You're starting to sound like your friend Farr." Nick said.

Aaron bristled at the accusation. He spun around, standing at the end of one of the accessory hallways that led deeper into the station. "Never say that to me," he spat. "I've still got my head on straight enough to know a pattern when I see one.

Nick held up his paws in a defensive motion. "I didn't mean it like that, calm down. I'll give you that he was behind the shooting and your laptop. We all know that, but the drug lab? That's taking it a bit far."

"You just wait. I'm not sure how but I know this isn't unrelated. They had that place done up too well for it to be some inner city drug lab. This looked too professional. Whoever was there knew what they were working with, and what not to leave lying around. Now let's go see what else we can squeeze from this Savage guy."

The three walked back toward the interrogation room. The first thing that Judy noticed when she came around the corner, leading the way was that the door was cracked open. She was sure she had closed it on the way out. A sudden burst of panic struck her and she ran to the room, looking around the corner. A pair of shiny silver handcuffs, still attached to the table were sitting open and abandoned. The leg shackles were discarded in one corner. She stared wide eyed at the empty room. Nick watched from over the top of her ears and looked completely dumbfounded. How did he get out of there so fast? Aaron stood in the doorway, looking like he would combust.

"Dispatch, we've got an escape!" Judy called into her radio. The station exploded into action a short time later.

* * *

The reindeer sat in the back seat of a car, sweltering in the heat. If it were any warmer he thought the fur would melt off his body. All around him was empty, cracked sand and little else in the way of natural scenery. Not even a sparse watering hole could be seen in the distance. The only feature worth noting was the neat squares of tents that were pitched around the flat, featureless landscape. It would have been perfect with some set up in, but that was coming soon enough.

In the front passenger seat a bobcat sat with a phone propped against his ear in an awkward balancing act. He gave a grim nod and hung up the phone with a cursory goodbye and looked back to the reindeer in the back.

"General?" the bobcat said, waiting for proper acknowledgement before he spoke.

"That didn't sound good Captain." The reindeer said, still looking out the window.

"Mixed news sir. We've got word that the RV we re-appropriated is in holding till the heat clears and we can move it out of the city. The comms guys were able to successfully spoof the radio frequency for the weapons shipment so we have that going too. The bad news is I'm getting word our outside agent got picked up by the police trying to get the package, and we haven't heard back from him yet. We'll keep trying to raise him." the captain said, bracing himself for the worst. The general just grunted; a snorting, horse-like noise.

"That slows down intel objectives. We still want to comb that thing for any useful data. He had to know something."

"In the meantime, the guys at the chem lab were able to get a few finished products of the AG-9 compound out and ready for use." He held up a small metal case and opened the lid. Inside, three ampoules were set into foam cutouts to protect them from shock and the case itself was waterproof and airtight. The glass capsules held a clear liquid that distorted the sunlight as it passed through the tops of the glass containers. It looked so innocuous from there. The general gave a nod of approval and the bobcat closed the suitcase, holding it on his lap.

"Very good. At least something is going our way. Tell Lieutenant Buckley to take those and be ready to move on targets Delta one and two. I'll deal with Foxtrot myself. He trusts me."

"Yes, sir." the bobcat said, sharp as a blade. He got out of the car, opened the door for the general and then hustled off toward the tents in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I probably owe some explanations and applogies to anyone who is still out there reading this after my extended hiatus. What was supposed to be a brief break from the weekly updates to gather my thoughts turned into an extended break that I'm just working my way back from.
> 
> This began with me identifying a major plothole for the upcoming chapetrs as this story nears a conclusion, and I elected to scrap my old outline and re-write it from chapter 20 and forward. The problem was that I couldn't figure out a way to keep everything together and with real life breathing down my neck I stepped back from my writing for a bit and then completely lost my Creative Spark. Over time, I worked on several other projects, the biggest one being college which was pressing me with deadlines that stopped me from brainstorming. A vacationto Alaska and a brief halt to my coursework later, I am back and have come up with a way to continue the storyline as I always intended, just in a new direction.
> 
> To everyone that has hung with me through this, I'd like to say thank you. I can't promise I'll have the same pace as I did before, but I am fully intending to get this done.
> 
> -CL


	21. Turncoat

Shay and Aaron slept, curled up in each other's arms and sunk inside a blanket as the sun came up, peeking its way through the blinds. They both were still, motion only showing in their almost synchronized breathing. The alarm clock on the nightstand went off and shattered the peaceful moment with a harsh electronic blaring. Aaron spasmed and shot upright, his eyes wide and claws out in sudden panic. He took a second to remember where he was and then relaxed with a low groan. Six AM came too early. Shay reached out, her face buried in a pillow and slapped at the clock a few times, finally hitting the off button for the clock and silencing the annoying buzzing. She lifted her head and looked at Aaron through tired eyes and stroked his mane. His breathing was still deep and rapid, and the look of sudden shock had not completely left his face yet.

"Nightmares again?" she mumbled, putting her hand back down on his lap.

"No," Aaron said, lying. "Yes," he admitted after a second. "I'm good. I'll be fine." He tenderly lifted Shay's head and rearranged the jaguar onto the pillow next to her. He looked out the window through a slit in the blinds, and took a second to control himself. It was a beautiful day out there. Hardly a cloud in the bright blue sky. The sun had crept up over the horizon and poked over the tops of the surrounding buildings. It almost seemed a shame to spend it at work.

He got up from the bed and pulled on a pair of pants that were in a crumpled heap on the floor next to the bedframe and looked around for a shirt. Not locating one lying around that seemed passably clean; he kissed Shay on the cheek, covered her back up with the blanket and wished her a good day, then went to the closet to fetch some clothes. He was back off night shifts at the station, and back to days. Either the chief had decided he was off punishment for now, or that things had calmed down overnight enough to keep him back on a relatively normal schedule. He pulled a shirt over his head and made his way to the door, keyed up and shaky. He didn't think he'd get used to alarms going off around him again as long as he lived.

* * *

Lieutenant Joel Buckley stood on the metro train, crushed in between several other animals. He shifted uneasily, one hand in his pocket and the other holding the overhead rail to maintain his balance as the train lurched with each start and stop. The deer had a rack of antlers that got in the way of his head and scraped against the plastic lining of the train when he moved. He could feel the vibration in his skull and it made him even more uncomfortable than being jammed in a rush hour train already did. He wore a canvas jacket with plenty of pockets over his short brown coat; it had enough space to conceal his tools of the trade and he rubbed one of them now with a hand, comforted by the weight of the device. It meant that everything would go according to plan. Now he just had to wait. What was an experiment without a test subject?

Buckley looked around the train as the mammals shifted in and out at the next stop, shuffling the deck of population. A few other deer, or deer-like mammals had gotten on, but that wasn't quite what he was looking for. One of them noticed him looking and nodded his head upward in a friendly, silent greeting. He nodded back, smiling in the most non-threatening way he could manage. Buckley hadn't changed his name since coming here, the name he had just fit his situation. It seemed that the macroverse had a sense of humor.

The train reached another stop and jerked to a halt. The doors behind him slid open and he was pushed inward further by two newcomers: A lion that didn't look completely awake, and a thinly built kudu with a large set of glasses. It was exactly what he was looking for.

Buckley loosened his grip on the hang bar above him, and the train went around the curve. It rounded at some speed and everyone shifted from the force. Buckley fell sideways, bumping hard into the kudu beside him. The kudu almost fell into the lap of a red panda occupying the seat beside him but he managed to save himself at the last second. He straightened his glasses back on his face and looked at Buckley with narrowed eyes.

"Hey, mind watching it there?" he said, peeved.

"Terribly sorry about that sir," Buckley said, apologizing profusely. He helped the kudo back up, who pulled his arm away, still upset. "Must have been daydreaming. I'll just move so it doesn't happen again." He scooted some distance away from the door. The train soon stopped at the next station and the kudu disembarked, leaving the lion beside him to hang from the bar, still half asleep.

Buckley watched the rest of the ride around the tracks go by, waiting to come out somewhere near the central train station where a car waited to pick him up. He thumbed the auto injector in his pocket. The plunger was pushed down fully now, its load spent. He smiled to himself. At the next stop, he got off the train, ejecting the spent glass ampule into the trash and sauntering off toward the stairs to street level. He could walk the rest of the way. If the material acted faster than they suspected it would, he didn't want to be inside the train car when it started. They didn't know yet how long it took for symptoms to set in, but the observation would be fun to get reports back from the recon team in a few days.

* * *

Jack Savage huddled under a bridge on the outskirts of Savanah Central. The place was abandoned, nothing but empty, run-down buildings with broken glass like black eyes looking out at him. The sun was going down, and shadows loomed over him. He sat on a rock, elbows on his knees and lost in thought.

He had managed to evade the police with his usual style and grace for the last four days now, and while it wasn't a hard task, being out of home was wearing on him. He didn't dare go back home right now. If those papers had shown anything at the police station he was sure they had his declared residence on them. He also wasn't sure if his other two safe houses had been burned, either by the agency, the police or his contractor. He'd not bothered to call them since the failed run, and he was sure by now they knew from the lack of Ledbetter's laptop at the drop point that he had not succeeded. He wasn't sure how well equipped or organized this new employer was, but considering the money he had received and what they had been asking him to do, they were at least good at keeping tabs on the goings on in the city. The question was why.

He had been thinking of the interrogation for several days now. He certainly didn't ask questions about why he was asked to do jobs he was hired for, he just did them. He also tried not to think too deeply about what he was doing in most cases. It was a fault to get emotionally involved in this kind of work. Still, Ledbetter had asked several good questions of him in that room. He didn't think the lion was stupid, or that he had no idea about what was going on in the background. But did he know how big of a machine he was a cog in, and what role he fit into it? Jack wasn't even sure where he fit into it, and it was keeping him awake at night.

The biggest problem, the one that caused of so much discomfiture was that now he wasn't even sure who he was fighting for. The idea that he might have been saving Ledbetter for all the wrong reasons was something he wasn't used to dealing with. In the case of almost all his other jobs, he could at least convince himself that he was improving things on a larger scale though his actions. On the surface, saving someone was supposed to be a good act. A merciful one. Stealing a laptop from someone wasn't good, but it was hardly being any worse than a petty criminal in a city filled to the brim with them already. Why had they asked for so much from him already though? Why did they want so much knowledge from Ledbetter? He didn't even seem like a likely target. He was a small fish in a big pond. An outsider and not even a massive asset to anyone. His work as a medic with the department wasn't something that brought one into the limelight, and it wasn't like he knew something that any other mammal in the city could have pulled off with some training. Unless he had some hidden, sinister past, it wasn't like he would know anything of huge value that anyone would want to comb through. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps Ledbetter knew something he didn't realize he knew.

Jack stood up, fists beside his head. He wasn't going to get anywhere with this, and the more he thought about it, the more he convinced himself he might be doing something terrible, something that wasn't within his horribly warped sense of morals. There was still one way out of those though: If you couldn't change the game, change which team you were playing for. He pulled out a small device from his bug-out bag, a police scanner and turned it on, sitting back on the rock. Maybe an opportunity would present itself.

* * *

The restaurant was crowded with mid-day diners. Jack sat alone with a bowl of vegetable soup, warming his body far more than he was comfortable with Ranier. The other thing that was making his appetite suffer was the crowd at the restaurant. Nothing had happened so far. He inspected everyone around him. Nothing but mammals enjoying their lunch, chatting and socializing. There was something in the air though. Something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He had the feeling something was going to happen. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

A buck walked through the front door, the bell hung above it ringing with a light chime. Jack's attention was drawn to him right away. Nothing about him seemed unusual, and he wasn't sure why his own anxiety was triggered even more by the appearance of the buck, but he watched him from the corner of his eyes. He already had three escape routes planned out if the police showed up for any reason, and he reviewed them in his head if anything went screwy in here.

The buck looked around, and spotted a booth with a pair of diners: A jackal and a donkey. They seemed like an unlikely pair, sitting next to each other, laughing and eating sandwiches. The buck smiled broadly, and waved to them getting their attention. The two caught sight of him and waved back, confused. It was obvious they didn't know who it was on sight.

The buck went over to their table and sat down without waiting for an invitation. The jackal and donkey shifted a bit uneasily in their seat as he joined them at the booth, sitting across from them. Jack turned and ear carefully toward them.

"Captain Sanford? Is that you sir?" The buck extended a hooved hand. The donkey looked at the buck, confused and hesitantly took the buck's extended arm, shaking it cautiously.

"I am, yes. Have we met before?" Luke Sanford asked, looking at the buck with narrowed eyes and a tilted head.

The buck smiled widely. "Lieutenant James Roberts. I was the OIC for 28th Infantry Division, out of Benning. We met at the Officers ball around Christmas. Before all this." He looked around him at the crowd of mammals at the restaurant.

Jack thought for a moment. There was something about the way that the supposed Lt. Roberts had introduced himself. Like he had rehearsed the whole introduction before he came in. He didn't think it was a real name.

Sanford brightened however, the name sounding familiar to him. "Roberts, yeah! I remember you. It's good to see you again. I see you didn't make it out, huh?" Sanford said sadly.

The buck shook his head. "No. I was on base when everything went FUBAR on us. Tried getting the rest of my unit out. I'm not sure who all made it out safe."

"I understand. You did your job well Lieutenant. We all tried to do what we could but…" Sanford's voice trailed off, remembering everything.

"We did," agreed Roberts. "We all did. Hey, who's your friend here?" He grinned at the jackal sitting beside Sanford.

"Oh, this is Ashton. I work with him." Sanford indicated his companion, who shook hands with Roberts in a friendly greeting.

"Oh, you found some work?" Roberts said, interested and leaning forward on the table.

"It's nothing glamorous," Sanford said. "Just a paper pusher for an accounting firm. What about yourself?"

"I'm kind of between jobs at the moment," Roberts admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, his embarrassment clear.

Jack listed to the three mammals talk jovially over lunch, the supposed Roberts not eating anything himself. His whole speech seemed off, like he was a well-practiced actor filling a role that called for a restaurant as a scene. The whole thing seemed so off to him that he found himself more absorbed in what was going on and less in his soup.

"So let me ask you, sir, you were involved in the project group back on base right? With General Rainier?" Roberts asked of Sanford.

"How'd you know about that?" the donkey asked, a little suspicious now.

"Oh, I've been keeping in touch with a few of the guys that I managed to find. Looks like there were more than a few of us on site that ended up here. I try to keep some old friends around as best I can. Safety in numbers right?

Ashton looked at the two, trying to catch up on the conversation. "What's he talking about Luke?"

Sanford waved the question away. "Oh, nothing. Some work I did before I came here. I'll tell you about it another time. This isn't a good place," he said, looking at Roberts who was still grinning.

"Well hey. I'd better get going. It was great seeing you again. Keep in touch sir. Oh, if you know of any work out there, would you let me know? Money is kind of tight."

"Yes, of course, I will. It was good to hear from you again Lieutenant," Sanford said. Roberts extended his arm again to shake with him and in doing so, his hand bumped against the full glass of water between them on the table. It dumped over and spilled into Sanford's lap. Ashton stood up partway, and Sanford squirmed in surprise, blocked in the booth by Ashton.

"Oh! Oh geez. I'm so sorry about that sir. Let me clean that up." Roberts offered, grabbing a wad of napkins from the dispenser on the table. He disappeared under the table for a moment and Jack lost sight of him. Roberts reappeared a moment later and looked apologetically at Sanford.

"So terribly sorry about that, sir. I'd better get going." He hustled out the door.

Jack's curiosity boiled over. He slipped from his seat and followed the buck to the door. He stood on the threshold and watched him. Just outside the door, Roberts stood beside a trashcan, hooves in the pockets of his coat and looking around subtly. He tipped something small into the trash, and deciding he was clear he walked off down the street. Jack watched him go, and looked at the trash can. There was certainly more to the character then he was letting on. Jack hoisted himself onto the rim of the trash can and stuck his paws inside; looking for what had been disposed of. There, beside an empty soda can. Something glinted in the sunlight. A small glass ampule, empty. He grabbed the ampule and looked at it more closely. Whatever he had found, it was spent. There was a small clear drop of liquid still trapped in the bottom of the glass. He considered it for a moment and was about to conceal it in his paw when he heard a voice behind him.

"Can I help you there sir?" Jack looked suddenly over his shoulder; tail still stuck up in the air and bent over the trashcan.

"Oh! I...think I dropped my cell phone in there by accident." Jack explained, making a quick, sheepish excuse. The waitress behind him was watching him, unamused.

"Your cell phone? It's on your belt, sir." The gazelle behind him said. Jack leaped off the can and looked up at her. He felt his ears run hot.

"Well, so it is!" he said, forcing a laugh. "I'm so forgetful at times. You'll have to pardon me." He scurried away from the restaurant, forgetting about his lunch and the bill. He still had the ampule hidden in a paw and now he considered what he was going to do with it. He pulled his phone out and prayed that he could come up with a favor from an old friend.

"This is Savage. It's been a while I know, but I'm wondering if you could take a look at something for me, for old times' sake?"

Down the road from the restaurant, the buck was making a different phone call, his coat collar pulled up around this phone and hiding xin an ally.

"It's Buckley. Let Rainier know that delta two is taken care of. We're at T-plus forty-eight hours on delta one so make sure recon is keeping a close eye on him. We should probably see results soon."

* * *

The middle of the week came with its normal boredom. There wasn't much to say about the events of the days, and Aaron sorted through his work with his usual lack of enthusiasm with which he approached bland office work. A few members had come through for rechecks and the department seemed back at a reasonable level of health, with the exception of minor cuts, scrapes and bruises that seemed to go with the job. The worst he'd seen so far was a papercut from Clawhauser, suffered while sorting a stack of reports. A hunt had been out for the escaped rabbit from the other week, but there were no leads to go on. Aaron was sure that if Jack had any skill, hiding, and hiding well, was one of them.

He was midway through his third cup of coffee and thinking of taking a break when his door crashed open with a bang. Evan and Bhara piled through the door at the same time, hanging up on each other. Bhara grabbed Aaron's jump bag and tossed it at him over the desk without so much as a 'how do you do?' and Evan ran to the desk, putting both paws on it firmly.

"Grab your stuff. We got a call!" He yelled at Aaron from less than a foot away, excited.

"What? Scramble drill?" Aaron said, getting up and grabbing his bag from the desk.

"No, real deal this time. Get your stuff and meet at the vehicle pad. We roll in three minutes. We need you out there on this one. Briefing will be on the way to scene." Evan said, heading for the door. Bhara was already out and sprinting for the rear of the station before anyone had really explained what was going on. Aaron didn't ask questions. There was no one left to answer them. He just headed out the door and got his riot gear strapped on.

Out in the vehicle pool, the personnel carrier was warmed up, and Ryelle, the rhino, was behind the well protected driver's seat, drumming his massive hands on the steering wheel impatient as he waited for the rest of the team to board up. The rest of the SWAT team climbed in the rear ramp of the carrier vehicle, Aaron coming in last and pulling the ramp and door shut behind him. Evan stood up near the front of the crew compartment, ready to hold court as they rolled out of the lot, holding on to their seats, rocking and swaying the whole way.

"Alright, listen up everyone," Evan commanded. "We got an aid call from patrol one-five to downtown for a crazed mammal on the streets. Patrols tried to contain him but he's giving them trouble. Reports from on-scene teams are saying he is attacking anyone that comes too close to him and not responding to orders to stand down and is acting disoriented. He's not armed, as far as we know, but that's not stopped him from being a danger to himself and others."

"So, what? Everyone out there forgot how to use a stun gun already?" Raz said, arms crossed and looking annoyed

"They tried that. Twice," Evan countered. "He keeps getting back up." There were murmurs of concern and shock among the team. Aaron said nothing, running through ideas in his head. Mental illness, sickness and drugs all popped as possibilities to him.

"So, they've gone savage?" Bradley proposed. Lyssa nodded in silent agreement to the idea.

"Let's not jump to conclusions yet," said Aaron.

"Oh, I suppose you have some great explanation for all this already, huh?" Raz said, pointing at Aaron.

"Enough!" Evan snapped. "Be ready to move, we're coming on scene. Just keep your heads tight. Aaron, we've got ZMS in staging till we clean things up, if we need them. Make sure we don't need them," Evan said in a grim warning.

The vehicle slid to a halt and the rear doors were opened. Aaron waited inside till everyone had grabbed their riot shields and filed outside onto the street. He followed them, keeping tight with the group but trying to stay out of the way. He didn't feel like getting bitten or gored again so soon.

The street was lined with parked cars, and otherwise cleared of civilians. They were outside a line of shops, and a huddle of officers were packed around the area in front of a bookstore, looking tense. Ragged, inarticulate yelling could be heard from in front of the other officers and the SWAT team moved up to intervene, Ringgold and Bradley moving off from the group to find higher ground and watch the scene from somewhere they could intervene if needed. Nick and Judy were lined up with the officers, easily the smallest ones there. Of course they would end up caught in the mess. Bhara, Ryelle and Lyssa pushed to the front of the group and formed a line of shields. Aaron pushed in behind them, crouching down beside Nick and Judy.

"You always know how to find the exciting stuff, don't you?" Aaron hissed. Neither of them responded to his remark. Nick was fixated wide-eyed ahead of him. A kudu was blocked in right in front of them, ragged looking and angry. His clothes were unkempt and dirty looking, a set of pants and an undershirt that looked like they hadn't been changed in days and he wore a thin robe despite being out in public during the middle of the day. His jaw hung open, and he drooled uncontrollably, streamers running from the corners of his mouth and dripping onto his pants and the pavement. He jerked left and right in an uncoordinated fashion, turning to the pack of mammals that had him pinned between the front of the store and the rest of the officers. The front window of the bookstore was cracked, lines coming out like a spiderweb from an impact point where the kudu had either punched or rammed the window. Shoppers looked on from inside with concern, protecting themselves behind the locked door.

The kudu, a middle aged looking specimen, screamed and groaned at the officers. "He really did go savage," Nick whispered, never taking his eyes from the crazed mammal. Aaron held his left paw up, hushing Nick. Something didn't match. Everything he'd read about Nighthowler Serum poisoning didn't seem right in this case. The kudu was still up on his two legs. He didn't look or act like a feral animal. He lacked the finesse and wild grace that he'd studied that seemed to occur with previous cases that had occurred in the past. It struck him as odd that there had been no cases of the synthesized psychoactive drug had shown up since before his arrival and now one just happened to pop up before him. The other problem was that this was a prey animal. There wouldn't be a political gain that he could obviously see to mimicking savage behavior in him. This was more like disease and psychosis.

"Lay down on the ground! Keep your paws where I can see them." Bhara ordered the kudu in a loud, firm voice. The kudu turned toward him, seeming more attracted to the sound than the command itself. He screamed at Bhara, his voice starting low and raising to a grating, harsh high pitch and lowered his head, corkscrewed horns pointed out. Bhara showed his teeth and put his shoulder into his riot shield and growled. The kudu charged right at him, still screaming. As he reached Bhara, the lion stepped forward; bracing himself for the impact and body checked the kudu. He flew backward a good several inches from the force and came down on his back just in front of the police line. Inside the bookstore, shoppers were watching the unfolding event like it was a daytime wrestling show, paws and hooves to their mouths.

The kudu struggled stiffly to get back up and Bhara lowered his shield. Lyssa had a set of handcuffs out already, set to leap on him and subdue their attacker. Before they could do that, the kudu stiffened even more, and convulsed on the ground, a wet patch appearing on his pants as he lost control of himself. Lyssa turned around to Aaron.

"What's going on here? Get in there medic." He said, pushing Aaron to the front of the line. Aaron stepped forward, ready to have to defend himself quickly. The kudu was still shaking and posturing, his muscles stiff.

"He's having a seizure. Get that ambulance over here right now!" Aaron dumped out the contents of his pack and started checking him over to make sure he at least remained breathing and minimized the injuries he'd already suffered. He could hear Evan on the radio clearing in the ambulance, and Lyssa stood by with Bhara in case the victim decided to get back up. He didn't move to get up, and eventually stopped convulsing after a minute, falling unconscious. The ambulance came around the corner and a pair of EMT's jumped out, cautiously approaching the scene. Aaron kept working over the kudu, who was breathing raggedly and still foaming at the mouth. On one hand, he'd found something to break up the monotony of his week. On the other hand, his life was getting stranger by the day.

The EMTs finished loading up their patient and headed out. Aaron debated following them to the hospital, and decided to hold back. He was sure whatever had just happened would work its way back to him.

* * *

Aaron walked slowly through the halls of the police department, a few papers in his hands. He passed every few dozen steps and looked at the words written on them, frowning in thought and walking on only to repeat the process again. He meandered through the workrooms, in the lobby and out the other side. There was work he was supposed to be doing at the time, but he had something bigger on his mind. Eventually he found himself outside the breakroom. It was empty except for Bhara and Zilna who were at a small round table, heads close together and talking about something. Bhara looked up at Aaron and kicked a chair away from the table, inviting Aaron to have a seat. He sat down without a word and set the papers he was holding face down in front of him, looking grim.

"You look like you're thinking about something," Bhara said.

"That's always a dangerous thing when he starts doing that too much,x" Zilna said with a laugh, his horse-like face a wide, toothy grin. He looked to Aaron for a reaction and got only an unamused stare back. Zilna ceased his amusement and cleared his throat, tracing one of his stripes with a hand.

"I got more information about that kudu you took down a few days ago, Bhara," Aaron said. "You both had your shots?"

Bhara and Zilna exchanged worried looks at each other and turned to the papers Aaron had set down. He turned the papers over to show a medical report he had managed to get off the coroner. It listed a name: Andre Snyder, a general overview of his physical characteristics; height weight, species, all of the general bits of information that would be expected of a medical report; and a cause of death: Rabies. Aaron tapped the word with a claw tip, and the others looked at it. Bhara swallowed hard and felt sick, Zilna just looked away from the paper, like looking at it would give him the disease.

"Is this even a big thing out here?" Aaron said, pressuring them for answers.

"I mean, we all get vaccinated for it, so it's not like it doesn't exist. I've never heard of anyone actually getting it though," said Bhara. He looked tense and nervous. If he could have, he would have been sweating.

"How does anyone even get that anymore?" Zilna groaned, still refusing to look directly at anyone else.

"Well, that's the interesting thing," said Aaron. "Where I'm from, we would have attributed it to an animal bite and let it go at that. Nobody seems to be going around biting others out here though, do they?"

"No, they don't, unless…" Zilna said and paused, not wanting to say the first thing that came to mind for him. _Unless some predator went savage again._

"See, that's the other interesting part," Aaron said, almost like he could read Zilna's mind. "He didn't have any bite wounds on him. Anywhere. The only wounds he had were some cuts and bruises from where he attacked that window, and a few puncture marks from when they tried to taze him."

"Maybe he got cut with something that was contaminated?" Bhara suggested, trying to make things seem more comforting than the idea that Snyder had been attacked by someone on the streets that had a deadly virus. It didn't work. He felt even more disturbed by the idea that he had put in his own head that somehow getting a chance cut or scrape on a dirty surface could have caused this.

"This wasn't something that happened right away. The virus takes days to set in. However he got exposed, it was long before we got to him," said Aaron.

"Did he have any family at home? Maybe they know how he got sick." Zilna offered up an idea, trying to figure out a way to not have to believe that Snyder was bitten by a predator. There was an inherent level of deep-seated distrust for preds in the city, which flared from time to time, but he worked with so many of them that he didn't want to raise a debate in the workplace. Still, Aaron was right. It was supposed to be something that you got from bite wounds. "Wasn't he vaccinated?"

"Hopps and Wilde are checking into things back where he lived. I'm going to check more with the medical examiner's office, assuming he'll even talk to me. It's been slow going. Last call I got was that he lived alone. Small apartment on the border between Savanah Central and Sahara Square. Nobody there with him, and not a lot of information on him of his past aside from his hospital records from when he got released."

"Released? From where?" Bhara questioned, tilting his head.

"From Zootopia General Hospital. He was one of the refugees."

Zilna covered his face with his hands. "Did anyone ever mention that you all cause a lot of trouble out here?"

Aaron looked Zilna in the face, boring a hole through the zebra's head with his eyes. "All the damn time. You think we asked to be here? Trust me; my life would have been a whole lot simpler if I'd stayed where I was."

"Every time it seems something big happens, it turns into 'Oh, it was another refugee.' We're running our tails off here, and you with us, for problems that seem to always end up centered around your kind," said Zilna, taking his hand from his face and staring back at Aaron. His glare was hot and angry. His voice echoed off the painted, flat walls and bare tile of the breakroom.

Aaron stood up so fast the chair behind him tipped over and clattered to the floor. "I am not responsible for the rest of us! These aren't 'my people.' I'm not some representative for them anymore than you are for the rest of the natural-born citizens of the city."

"Yet you always seem to be right where things are starting," said Zilna, still accusing Aaron bother verbally and visually.

"I'm not the one starting things, but I'm going to be there to finish them." Aaron spat back, angry.

"Alright, enough from both of you!" Bhara yelled. "Unless Ledbetter is running around at night chomping on mammals in some sort of fit of rabid fury, he isn't to blame for this. And you," He pointed a meaty claw at Aaron, "need to keep your temper under control and stop getting all up in arms over this. We've got work to do, and it looks like you've got your plate full again."

"Yeah, the first part being how do you get rabies without being bitten?" Aaron picked his chair up off the floor and looked at the papers dourly. The only answer he got was the humming of the fluorescent lights overhead, and the sound of Zilna tapping his hoof on the floor.

* * *

Rain poured down from a dark gray sky, soaking Aaron as thunder crashed and echoed off the buildings. The sheeting rain soaked Aaron's mane and made it stick to his face. He brushed it away from his eyes, only for it to slick back down and lay annoyingly against his forehead. If there was one thing he didn't need right now it was distractions, and there were plenty to be had.

A donkey, rather tall and well built screamed in the rain, a rough, braying sound, spittle flying from his mouth and mixing with puddles on the ground. His shirt was half unbuttoned and covered in mud and filth. His pupils were dilated grossly, making his eyes look almost black. His pants were soaked all down the front and Aaron couldn't tell if it was washout from the rain of if he had urinated.

A tight semi-circle of officers from the SWAT team surrounded the donkey, confining him between them and the red brick wall of an office building. Thunder crashed and the donkey screamed again, slamming his fists against the wall, the sound of the yelling drowned out by the reverberating boom from overhead. Everyone flinched at the combined haunting sounds. The whole scene was like some sort of horror movie setup from a disturbed mind, and made worse by the knowledge that it was real, and any damage was permanent.

Aaron stood sandwiched between Zilna and Bhara, pressed tightly between their shoulders and struggling to hold a riot shield in one arm, and his jump bag in the other. He wasn't sure which one was going to be more important in the next few minutes, but he was going to need one of them.

The circle of SWAT officers closed in tighter around the donkey, pressing him closer to the wall. He responded by taking a step toward them, stiff and awkward, his arms and legs trembling as he moved. He was psychotically unafraid of what he was faced with, and his eyes locked on Aaron.

Aaron stared back at him, his mouth hanging open in stunned amazement. The donkey was bleeding from the gums and saliva flowed freely from around his squared off teeth, runnels splattering to the ground like viscous rain. Aaron could feel someone press up on his back, supporting him. Lyssa braced himself behind Aaron, giving him some additional weight in the event that the donkey charged. Aaron was no ninety-pound weakling, but he still wasn't sure he could take on the mass of a crazed charge directly into him, and the last thing he wanted to get was within biting distance of the assailant.

"Keep him contained, don't let him knock you over and whatever happens, don't let him bite you," Aaron said to the others around him, never taking his eyes off his target for even a second. "Where's that tranquilizer?"

"Frag went to go get one; he's sending it up to Bradley and Ringgold. They're up on overwatch across the street." Lyssa said in Aaron's ear, trying to talk over the sound of thunder and braying screeching. Aaron desperately wanted to comfort himself by looking up on the roof to see Bradley's rifle sticking out of the brick molding, but he was too afraid to miss something if he stopped watching.

" _Come on you two, do your stuff before this gets worse,"_ he thought, a silent prayer from the atheist in the foxhole.

Up on the rooftop, the armadillo hustled across the gravel rooftop, splashing through growing puddles and trying to hold the relatively large case with a tranq rifle and darts in his arms. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten relegated to delivery duty when he'd be better on the ground, but as long as things were not exploding, or needing to be made to explode, he had to do something to contribute.

Ringgold and Bradley laid flat on the ground, rain pelting their similar spotted yellow coats, and Ringgold waved Frag over to them, impatient. She snatched the case from him and snapped the latches open, taking the contents out and assembling them while Bradley waited. Frag, in the meantime just got down on the ground behind the cheetah and leopard, trying to curl into a protective ball as much as possible, difficult to do with his heavy riot gear on.

"Who is this target?" Lyle Bradley said, watching the area below them on the other side of the street. Water dripped down the black tear lines that extended from either side of his eyes and down his nose, like the water was leaving soot streaks behind it.

Ringgold picked her binoculars back up and wiped the water from the lenses with the back of her paw and looked through them. She could see Zilna, standing out with his black and white striping, almost evolved anti-camouflage. He was bunched in with the others and facing the donkey, who was now turning stiffly back and forth between his would-be captors.

"All I've got is a name: Luke Sanford. No clue who he is. Dispatch got a call about him roaming the streets. Said he attacked some bystander in downtown and was acting erratically. Now hush it and let me get some firing solutions," Ringgold scolded Bradley. She chuffed and watched Sanford, checking the wind and distance. The rangefinder display jumped and sputtered, the raindrops confusing the beam. She eventually saw a number pop up enough times to fudge a judgment.

"One hundred and thirty meters, wind coming from two-seventy, at about fifteen miles per hour. Going to have to really angle into that," said Ringgold, her tail stuck up in the air and using it like a windsock to gauge the air current.

"You think I can't make that?" Bradley replied with a curt snap.

"Wouldn't dare think it," she said.

Bradley looked down the scope of the rifle and aimed into the wind, well off his target, pointing at an area just above Aaron's head far below. He took a deep break, held it, and gave the trigger a gentle, almost tender squeeze.

Back on the street, the team kept an ever-tightening circle. Sanford bellowed again, and as he opened his mouth a small dart, needle tipped and fletched with a small furry red puff struck him in the left hip, just below the pants pocket. He turned toward the source of the pain, and made a gurgling roar. Aaron held his breath, waiting for results. Any second now...

Instead of falling over and drifting off to sleep like the textbook plan had gone, he instead yelled louder and charged at the officers, everyone braced for impact and Sanford charged right into Aaron, knocking him backwards into Lyssa. The two fell over, Aaron lying on top of Lyssa and pinning him under his weight. Sanford beat on Aaron's riot shield, a loud drumming sound that drowned out the thunder and screaming. In a panic, the other officers backed away, afraid to get within biting range of him while he continued to assault Aaron with relentless fury.

Another dart appeared in Sanford's hip, a millimeter from the first one, and drew Aaron's attention. He almost lost the grip on his shield in surprise, and had to hold it with both hands to prevent himself from being pummelled. Sanford took a deep breath and a few seconds later his blows softened and his coordination became less precise. He slowed down, and then slid off the water slicked riot shield with a soft moan and lay in a puddle, rain pelting off his back.

Aaron pushed himself off of Lyssa's body, grunting and panting. He looked at the unconscious donkey and turned to Bhara and the other officers who were still huddled a bit away from Sanford.

"Thanks for the assist," he said in a snide voice. "Now where is that ambulance?"

* * *

Aaron walked through the park, hands in his pockets and kicking a small stone down the asphalt path in front of him. He'd left the hospital some time ago and needed a few minutes to cool off before he returned to work and delivered his follow up report to the attack from three days ago. Luke Sanford was dead, the victim of reported rabies again. He just wasn't buying it. Two prey animals that were supposedly the result of the same illness in at the same time? Sure, it was possible that one of them gave it to the other, but he just couldn't bring himself to imagine a kudu sneaking up and biting a donkey on the ass. Where was it coming from then? Was it possibly some new form of illness? He didn't think so, given the pathology reports he'd gotten. Then again, they had just listed a preliminary cause of death based on symptoms. He wasn't sure if Dr. Nunez, the coroner, had really looked deeply into the issue. Had anyone in Infectious Disease Medicine gotten involved yet, or were they waiting for more than a few cases to spring up? Beyond that, who was their patient zero? Once symptoms started with rabies, death wasn't far behind, but he hadn't gotten any word on anyone else but those two dying of the illness. There would have had to be at least a third one out there.

The gears in his head were turning, but he knew he was missing some critical piece of information. He had a known unknown. There was nothing else to link the warehouse, the illness that had spread through the station from the chemicals contained within, and the rabid street fighters that caused so much tension on the streets. The news had gotten wind of the case with their usual swiftness, and the story about Andre Snyder had aired on the news a few days ago. He was sure they'd have themselves a prime-time special once they found out about Luke Sanford. Why would this happen? He needed answers.

The world had a funny way of granting favors. Aaron found a small gazebo with a park bench placed in the middle of it and sat down, resting his head in his paws, and started at the circular cement paddock that lined the gazebo. A cigarette butt rested on the ground, ringed by a small pile of ashes. Aaron kicked it with his toe and it bounced off into the grass with a small puff of dust.

He lifted his head and looked at the horizon, a few light, puffy clouds drifting across the sky disappearing and reappearing behind the tall buildings to the north and took a deep breath. Just as he was about to get up and consider where he was going next, he felt something grab him by the back of his shirt, near the collar.

"Sit back down," a voice ordered him. Aaron was about to turn around in surprise and see who had just addressed him in such a curt matter, but instead, he sat back down, something in his head telling him it was better to not look.

"Good boy," The voice commended him like he was a dog. "Now, don't turn around. Don't look anywhere else. I have something you will want to know. Something very important." The source of the voice was instantly recognizable to Aaron, and he barred his teeth, speaking over his shoulder while facing straight ahead. He could feel something pressing into his back. A weapon or a paw? It was hard to tell in the second.

"You little shit. I should slap you across the park and have you dragged back to the station. That'd be fitting justice, wouldn't it?

"You could, but I'll remind you that you are still in uniform. What would that look like? A big strong lion abusing a poor defenseless bunny like myself in public. You could always just sit back, remain calm and hear what I have to say." Jack replied, smug as ever.

"I could," Aaron said, looking straight ahead. If anyone had approached him from the front, it would have looked like he was talking to himself, his size completely masking the small rabbit who sat behind him on the bench, the two of the faced like they hardly talking to each other. "I could also just get up and walk away before you have a chance to say or do anything else. What if I did that?"

Aaron could practically hear Jack nod in agreement behind him. "That you could. If you did that, you would be missing out on some very important information I have for you."

"Why would I believe anything you have to tell me? I'm sure you're looking to save your own hide at this point."

Jack smiled to himself for a moment then stopped, his ears dropping. He was in over his head, but would it be to his aid to admit that? A little self-depreciation to garner sympathy could have good effects in getting what one wanted from time to time.

"I am trying to do that, but not for the reason you are thinking of." Jack admitted, being honest but also putting his plan into action. He was going to dig himself out of this hole if it was the last thing he did. He just hoped it wouldn't be the last thing he did.

"How do you know what I'm thinking?" Aaron snapped, turning his head. He couldn't see Jack over his shoulder, and for the moment didn't care to exert the effort to turn further.

"You're not the only one capable of deductive reasoning here. You're thinking that I'm trying to make up for assailing you and the... 'reallocation,' let's call it, of your computer," Jack said, watching a soccer field full of cubs across the way from him. In spite of what he was trying to do to steer the conversation, his voice held almost no trace of remorse.

"If you think that saying 'sorry, my bad' is going to get you off the hook with me or the rest of the police, you've got another thing coming. They're still looking for you," Aaron said.

"I'm sure it won't. You seem to hold a bit of a grudge, like a few of your peers."

Aaron wasn't sure if he meant the ZPD, or the rest of the refugees, at least the ones who were not in jail at the time.

"Fine then; so what is it you have to offer? I really get the feeling that you want something out of this, and it's more than just getting me to turn a blind eye to you being out here."

Jack shifted in his seat and pulled a sheaf of folded papers in a sealed envelope from under his tail, where he had been sitting on them.

"I do want something, yes. I have something I can give you in exchange. Perhaps after you see it you might be more inclined to assist me, if not for my sake than for the sake of yourself and the rest of the city. You are motivated by a sense of duty and protection, yes?" said Jack.

"Don't worry about what motivates me. You're lucky that I'm curious because that is the only thing motivating me to stay and listen to you," Aaron replied.

"Yes, cats and curiosity, hmm?"

"Get on with it. I don't have all day here"

"You've been dealing with some quite sick animals in the past week or so, have you not? Some mysterious cases of illness." Jack ran the envelope through his paws, biding his time.

"You aren't saying anything you couldn't get off the evening news," Aaron said.

"I'm not, but this reaches far further than even the news has gotten wind of. You are dealing with someone who wants to see death sown across the city and is willing to take steps to see that it not only happens, but that no one ever realizes that anything unnatural has happened."

Jack tossed the envelope over his shoulder and it landed neatly beside Aaron. He could hear the lion pick it up. Jack had no doubt his former contractor would have him killed, or worse, to keep the papers inside from reaching anyone else.

Aaron flipped through the pages, glancing over them with an annoyed and confused look on his face. They were filled with chemical formulas, diagrams of organic chemical models, and pharmacodynamics that he didn't understand much of. He hadn't touched organic chemistry since his undergrad days, however long ago that had been, but some of the concepts of how the materials reacted with tissue made sense to him.

"What am I looking at?" he asked, holding the papers in one paw over his right shoulder and shaking them. They made a dry, crinkling sound as they flapped in the artificial breeze he had fanned up.

"This is a breakdown of a chemical residue I happened to find in a trash can, outside a restaurant some number of days ago. I had someone that had both the ability and the willingness to analyze the material for me and what they found is as sinister as it is deadly," Jack replied, his voice low and serious.

"You go digging through the trash and tell me you found some chems, and that your mysterious lab technician has them all neatly figured out and collated for me? How am I supposed to believe this? You could be telling me anything," Aaron said, his skepticism at a high peak. "I have no reason to think any of this means anything. You're just trying to distract me from something else."

"I don't need you to believe me. I just need you to believe what is written on there. You can, of course, do anything you like with those, but I think if you were to read more deeply before tossing them away you might see what my concern is, and how it affects you," said Jack.

Aaron furrowed his brow and flipped through the pages once more. The very last page contained a paragraph that caught his eye, and he pulled it to the top of the stack to read over it better.

"…compound is capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier where it will enter neural cell bodies and may cause a number of effects: hypermania, changes in behavior including aggression and impulsivity, insomnia, hallucinations, and general confusion. As the toxin spreads, other systemic effects may occur such as excess salivation, swelling and hyper-secretion of oral and GI tissue, incontinence, fever, and musculoskeletal pain. Eventually, the compound will degrade neuromuscular junctions and cause paralysis, leading to death of the mammal by means of respiratory and heart failure if not treated.

The dose required to cause symptoms is not fully understood yet but may be as little as several milligrams per kilogram of body weight. Route of administration seems to occur either topically, or through injection, and time of administration to onset of symptoms may be in as little as a few days."

Aaron stared wide-eyed at the paper for a long moment. Something in all of this was making the gears in his head turn. "This sounds a lot like…"

"…like rabies? Yes, it does," Jack finished Aaron's sentence for him. "I have more I can tell you, if you are willing to stay and listen."

"Where did you find this?" Aaron asked his response a backhanded answer to the request.

"I found myself at a restaurant where I noticed a strange interaction take place between some of the lunch crowd." Jack started. He told the story about the supposed 'Lt. Roberts' and his surprise meeting with Sanford. About the spilled water glass and how Roberts had left so quickly after that.

"I happened to spot this deer drop something in the trashcan outside. He was subtle, like he didn't want to be seen doing that. That alone got my attention, but it was the way that he did everything that kept it. Everything he did, from his introduction to the way he put distance between himself and the restaurant seemed to be choreographed, rehearsed and practiced."

"Like something, you would do?" asked Aaron, watching the skyline of the city.

"Exactly like something I would do. Particularly when I needed to pretend to be someone I'm not." Jack answered.

"How do I know you aren't doing that right now?"

"You don't. All you have right now is those papers and my story. What you do with this information is up to you, but I think it would be in your best interest to take careful actions going forward. You-, we, rather, are dealing with someone that has the resources and the ability to do what they want, to whom they want, and when they want it," said Jack.

Aaron shook his head. "That barely even makes sense," he said, and held a paw to his temple. "Let's just assume for the moment that all of this is correct and you aren't leading me on some wild mystery designed to throw me off of whatever I'm sure your real objective is. What am I supposed to do about it?"

"Well, I certainly am not one to tell you how to do your job, but if it were me I would consider where this is being made."

"Humor me for a second," he said. "Assume I already had an idea about where this was being made, and assume they left nothing that I could identify who they were or where they had gone. What then?"

Now it was Jack's turn to look surprised. He was well accustomed to his poker face and didn't make a sound to give himself away. He wasn't going to make that same mistake twice around the lion.

"Nobody ever is gone without a trace," Jack replied smugly. "You found me, didn't you?"

For the moment, Aaron had to credit the little bunny. He was right. Maybe he and Bhara just hadn't looked in the right places, or the right way. He was getting the feeling that with the recent "diseased" mammals he wasn't going to have forever to figure out the details. Besides that, there was still one thing that bothered him. He turned around on the bench, twisting at the spine till he was looking down at Jack, and ready to snatch him by the ears if he tried to move.

Jack didn't though, he simply looked back at Aaron and allowed eyes to be laid on him. He was dressed so much differently than Aaron had seen him before, his attire designed to blend into the traffic of the mid-afternoon park above anything else. He'd donned a pair of tan cargo shorts and a faded red short-sleeved T-shirt with a blue collar that had begin to fray slightly at the neck.

"You want something from me. After what happened, you came here to find me with this information. Not because you thought that it would make up for waylaying me on the sidewalk and then escaping from the police station on our watch, but because you want something from me, and you want it bad."

Jack gave Aaron a Mona Lisa smile, his eyes narrowed. He couldn't tell if it was an expression of hostility or resigned agreement.

"I do want something, you are correct about that." His reply was snide, yet conceding. His expression softened, and he looked Aaron directly in the face. His eyes were a pale blue, like cold water in an ice-capped lake, aesthetically pleasing, but with the promise of danger beneath.

"I've had a lot of time to think about everything that has happened since I took the contract to maintain your personal safety from Mr. Graham's conscripted assassin. I've now had a chance to step back and see what the potential damages of continuing to work with this particular contractor are, and I do not like the outcome I am imagining.

Aaron scoffed at the admission. "Why? Afraid they'll cut in on your business? I imagine the killer for hire market is pretty competitive these days."

"Discredit me all you want Mr. Ledbetter. I am only going to say this: I do try to keep myself out of the murkiest depths of unethical actions. I was asked to protect someone from mortal danger and I did just that. I feel now that I have aided them for all the wrong reasons."

"So go fight your own invisible wars. I didn't ask for a part in this. I already tried to clean up someone else's mess and he's just a bloodstain on a bit of rock at the bottom of a cliff now." Aaron spat back. "You don't need me for this."

Jack squeezed his face together tightly, his incisors digging into his lower lip. "I'm in over my head. Whatever is going on out there is much bigger than just myself, and you are involved in it somehow. I don't know why, but you are."

"And you think I can somehow help you? Protect you? I don't even know what this grand conspiracy is, but I'm starting to feel like I've had a target painted on my back since I landed out here," said Aaron. "I didn't get this much armed attention against me when I was in the Army," he added with a mutter.

"I'm giving you this information in good faith, but I think it would be for the best of both our interests if you were to try and do some good with it." Jack gave a final hard look to Aaron, and got up from the bench and stepped behind a tree, cutting his line of sight from the benches in the gazebo.

Aaron thought for a moment, then got up to go after him. When he rounded the tree trunk, Jack was gone, like he'd never even been there.

* * *

Former Corporal Steven Farr sat on the ledge of the retaining wall of an old brick building and looked out at the skyline. The sky was gloomy, an ashy gray. Spatters of rain fell from the clouds, just enough to be depressing, but nowhere near enough to hide his tears. He sniffed, and stared at the horizon, visible just over the buildings in downtown. Somewhere beyond the clouds, the sun would have just been creeping up, illuminating the sky with that cold steel blue that always made him feel uncomfortable. Everything these days made him uncomfortable. He thought that as time went on, he'd begin to feel better, he'd get used to his surroundings or at least time would help him deal with getting accustomed to the idea that whatever had happened to him wasn't going to go away. He thought the spreading news that Aaron had dealt some blow to a cultish group of survivors would calm him, and that maybe he could stop dreaming of a time when he had a regular body; fingers and toes instead of hooves and horns, but he didn't. He thought that maybe Randall and Mary and the others would be able to help him though this awkwardness and unshakable sense that he was being hunted for sport, but instead they had all drifted apart as his paranoia grew. Shay and Aaron were glued together, body and soul; Randall and Mary had only grown closer in their coping with this tragedy. He had no one. There were others around him, but he didn't trust any of them. He was the only one who knew what was really going on.

Behind Farr, a reindeer in a long brown coat stood behind him with crossed arms. Droplets of water hung heavy from his antlers. He had gone an unflattering grey around the muzzle, and his very body stature seemed to suggest old age, but he still stood tall, proud, and dire. It was the stance of someone who had been taught how to stand up for themselves, and others, through a very long time of practice and repetition. He stepped forward, closer to the small retaining wall of the buildings edge. It was an old and abandoned building, what may have been an office at some point in the city's more prosperous days but now stood empty. The roof towered a good six stories above the back alley below, and the void of space between here and the ground called.

"You can't mope here all day, soldier. We made you better than that. Stronger." Rainier admonished the sniffling ibex.

Farr craned his neck around to look at the general, not rising. He wasn't a soldier anymore. He wasn't even human anymore. He could no longer settle on what he was. Species identity was something he'd never had to worry about before, and he was able to take it for granted. Now with that gone, he felt like his whole self-identity had been blown away, and half his mind with it. What more was his body to go with it?

"I don't even know who I am anymore, sir. I'm not me, I know that much. They did something to us all, and I feel like I'm the only one that can see it. You can see it, can't you sir?" Farr blabbered, his train of thought hardly making sense to him anymore.

Rainier nodded solemnly. "We all did the best we could Farr. Sometimes these things don't work out right. This wasn't what I had intended for my career to end up like." He shook his head slowly and took another step closer to Farr. "We were supposed to be doing something incredible. Something that would have changed the world."

Farr nodded and closed his eyes. He remembered the moments before his life went blank and changed forever. He remembered standing outside of a security fence, facing that large array of pylons with their curve dishes, pointing at some invisible spot in the middle. He couldn't remember what they called the thing anymore. Arrows? Something about Arrow. He dreamed of it sometimes when he was able to sleep. He dreamed of it spitting red fire and lightning at them, and making them all into monsters. Had it really done that in the end? He remembered checking the ID of some young man in a suit and tie with a temporary ID card at the gate, and telling him how to get to his offices in the DARPA building. He remembered running into the same building some time later, his radio squawking emergency evacuation instructions for personnel, and something about a core breach. He didn't understand what it meant, but followed the instructions that the automatic repeating voice read off to him in his earpiece. He didn't understand what happened to him either, just that he had woken up in a hospital, strapped to a bed and frantic, surrounded by talking animals, and his mind blown away in the aftermath of what he had experienced somewhere that he couldn't figure out.

"What did we make instead?" Farr turned away from the General again.

"I don't know what we made, but this world can't ever find out. We failed, and now we're having to spend our days hiding ourselves away. They'd skin us if they found out what really happened. If they knew what we did." Rainier stood his ground. The rain was picking up, and spattered off his head. His right ear twitched involuntarily. In a few minutes, the city would begin to wake, and the citizens would begin their daily lives, so much like home had been. It amazed him that things were so different yet so similar here. He needed to leave before they all left their homes. He instructed his driver not to be gone too long, but he wouldn't leave without him either.

Farr was looking to his side again, able to see Rainier from the corner of one of his eyes, much further apart than his last set of eyes, his _real_ ones had been. "I won't say anything, sir," he said, sniffling still.

"No, of course you won't," Rainier nodded his head in sympathetic agreement. "You were a good soldier." Was he lying though? How much did he really know about the project? It didn't really matter though. He was too far gone mentally to recover any more useful information. Anything he said was dismissible as the paranoid, depressed chatter that he had become known for.

"Are you going to come down from there?" Rainier asked after a moment.

Farr sat and looked out at the sky of a world that he didn't know. In his heart, he knew he was never going to know it, never going to understand what had happened to him and the world he understood. Where he did not get yelled at by a moose driving a drop-top convertible as he absentmindedly crossed the streets. Where he didn't get such strange, pitiful looks from animals that walked by him on a crowded sidewalk, and the even worse looks he got from his friends as they tried to help him and failed. They had adjusted, but he was still stuck back at the start. He knew what was going on; the rest of them just couldn't see it. Maybe it would be better this way. Maybe if he removed himself from the situation he could find peace, and if he couldn't, maybe the others would finally see.

"I am. I just need a moment, sir," Farr replied and took a deep look, wondering if the sun was really rising behind those clouds.

* * *

Rainier shook the rain from his antlers and stepped inside the door that the bobcat, Captain Craig held open for him. He sat in the passenger-side rear seat and waited while the Captain proceeded around the front, and pulled out of the alley. There was a long silence that hung in the air between them.

"General?" Craig said after a moment.

"It's fine. Just drive. It'll all be over soon enough."

"Yes sir," Craig replied, softer than the spotted coat that covered his body since the Incident. "I suppose that it will. What about…" Craig's question hung in the air like a bad smell.

"Foxtrot?" Rainier finished the sentence for him. "We'll get to him. He's a harder target than I anticipated," he shook his head. "It's always these civilian contractors that get to be the problem."

The black sedan pulled out onto the main road, windshield wipers squeaking against the glass, and the two soldiers, one young and one old drove through the streets of Zootopia, just ahead of the beginning of rush hour, neither of them speaking about the past.


	22. Chapter 21: Curosity Kills

Morning briefing was finishing up, and Aaron stood sandwiched between Ringgold and Zilna, arms folded behind his back and feet slightly parted at parade rest at the rear corner of the room. The chief was doling out routine assignments, and by the way he could see Judy's ears drop from view he assumed she was unimpressed with her assignment. The officers filed their way out of the room while the remainder of the ZPD SWAT team stood at the rear of the room, waiting for their more detailed briefings and assignments. The general plan was a drill day on the range, but like most things in emergency management, it was all up in the air until the day got underway.

As Chief Bogo paced back and forth across the room at the podium waiting for Captain Tekari, The front right pocket of Aaron's pants started to ring, an electronic air-raid siren tone. His phone. Aaron didn't break position for a moment, but shifted his eyes, looking down at this waistband with an annoyed and frightened look. Chief Bogo rounded on his hooves sharply and gave Aaron a look that could have killed him from across the room.

"Aren't you popular today Ledbetter?" he snapped. Aaron replied with little more than a strangled sound and a wide-eyed nod. His phone cut off a few seconds later, either the caller had hung up or the collective hostile glares of his teammates had managed to break his phone.

Captain Tekari hustled into the room, a pleasant expression on his face to counter the one Bogo had on. They went over the day plans, and some increasing concerns that had come up in the last few weeks, one of which involved the uncertainty of the warehouse they had staked out. There were plans on the books to raid the place at some point, however the evenings had been busy with other activities requiring more urgent attention so it kept getting pushed back. Aaron was eager to go with the team on this and figure out if the mystery illness, the supposed rabid animals, and Jack were connected in some manner. He had elected not to tell anyone about the meeting between him and Jack yet, afraid of what it could mean for his job as well as what the hare had told him. It still seemed that there were greater machinations going on around him, he just couldn't see it yet.

With the briefing over, the SWAT team headed out to the motor pool for a drive over to the training yards. Out on the paddock, Aaron's phone went off again, drawing attention and more glances. He scowled and snatched the phone from his pocket and looking at the screen. It was Shay. Now he had a brief moment of worry. She knew not to call him while he was at work unless it was an emergency. He noticed now that both calls had been from her. Chewing at his lower lip, he answered the phone while Ryelle looked on from the vehicle's driver's seat impatiently.

"Hey hon, I'm at work right now, what's going on?" he answered the phone with a forced smile and a look of apology to the others.

Shay greeted him in a clipped, brief manner. Something in her voice told him she'd been crying.

"There's been a problem," she said in that heavy tone that only confirmed she was upset by something. "It's Farr"

"What's up babe? Talk to me." He cajoled her into talking.

"He's dead," was the brief reply, plain and final as death.

* * *

The morning was overcast still, and the tops of the taller buildings were lost in a gray mist of low-hanging clouds. Sometimes the clouds would thin and the ghost-like images of the buildings would show up, only to be swallowed again. Aaron stared at the clouds and wondered if Farr's ghost was hanging somewhere in there. He felt a paw at his side and turned around with a grim, tight expression on his face to see Nick beside him, looking no cheerier. Beside him, Farr's crumpled body had been covered by a sheet, a tip of his somewhat misshapen horn poking out of one corner. Evidence placards, cheerfully official yellow with bold black numbers had been placed at points around the ground, marking points that a beaver with the Crime Scene Investigation team was taking photos of. The more that Aaron looked around, the more it struck him as uncannily absurd, like a Disney movie gone really dark.

The camera flashed and reflected off the wet pavement, bringing him back to reality for a moment. He looked across the police tape that cordoned off the alley where they had gathered and saw Shay, her gaze affixed on the ground, standing next to Randall and Mary, who was supporting her in her arm. Aaron ducked under the caution tape, Nick following behind him wordlessly. The five of them wandered away from the rest of the curious onlookers. What better way to spend a weekday morning than looking at a poor, dead mammal while the police did their work? Grim curiosity was a universal constant it seemed.

"So," Randall broke the silence after a moment. "Guess it all got to him after a while huh?" Aaron and Mary both gave him a look of sadness and hostility but said nothing.

Nick walked over to Shay and looked up at her softly. "I'm so sorry," he said. His almost endless supply of witticisms and smart-alecky quips was temporarily exhausted by the nature of the scene.

Shay buried her head in Aaron's mane. He could feel her breathing on his shoulder, ragged and hot while he looked off in the distance, not really seeing anything. Taillights of cars reflected in the wet pavement and water droplets sparked with reflected red, like drops of iridescent blood as Randall just gave him a hard look.

"I…I don't know. I just didn't know what to do with that sort of thing. He was so far gone by the time any of us arrived here. I suppose there's only so much your mind can take."

"So what? You can save everyone else, but not your friends? What about the rest of us? Just gonna wait till it's too late and then say 'I didn't know what to do?'" Randall's accusation dripped venom.

"You are awful!" Shay rounded on Randall, and she spat her words at him, a clawed slap directed at his face which he dodged with a disinterested movement of the head. The sudden outburst drew the attention of the onlookers, till Aaron's cold glare and SWAT uniform diverted their looks from them, and back to the draped body. In the alley, the coroner's office assistants had loaded Farr's body onto a stretcher and were preparing to carry him away for one of those cold steel lockers that Aaron had come to know so well in recent months. Mary pulled Randall away down the street with an icy stare at him and a look of sympathy to the others that said she didn't know what to do with his personal behavior either.

Aaron held Shay, saying nothing and stared down the street, red and blue flashing lights reflecting off his eyes.

* * *

Aaron sat at a small table next to the window in a downtown bar that he frequented and watched rain droplets run down the window. It had rained for days now, a fitting setting for Farr's funeral. Aaron had worn his dress blues, as had Nick and Judy who accompanied him to the brief, spartan ceremony. Besides the three of them Mary, Randall and Shay had been the only ones to show up for the pauper's event. Aaron would have liked for him to have had proper military ceremonies for the burial, but nobody in the funeral home would have understood the significance of it. Besides, where would he have gotten an American flag? There wasn't even anyone to turn it over to. In the end, they had divided up the costs of a simple ceremony between themselves and settled on at least getting him a proper private burial rather than letting the city handle it once the autopsy was finished. It was the least they could do.

The autopsy had been a cursory examination by requirement of city ordinance. The cause of death was ruled as falling from height, not that he'd been at all shocked by it. Looking back now he supposed it had been almost inevitable. He wondered now in the aftermath how many of the refugees had done the same. He had never been able to dig deep enough into the records to find wherever all the refugees had gone, and what became of all of them, or how many had gone out like Farr had.

The bell hung above the bar door jingled and a cold breeze blew in. Aaron didn't look at who had come in, but was mildly surprised when Randall Stone sat down across from him at the two-top table he nursed a beer at. A thin gazelle in an apron came over before either of them could say anything to the other. Randall mumbled something to her and she left back to the bar itself to get his drink order.

Randall and Aaron stared at each other for a long moment through the tops of their eyes, without speaking. Neither of them had spoken since Farr's death that morning when Randall almost had his face incised from his skull by an angered jaguar.

Farr slapped a hooved hand down onto the table, making Aaron flinch. "Figured I'd find you here man. Going to drink all day?"

Aaron looked at him wearily. "Maybe I am. Haven't decided yet." He watched the foam in his beer dissipate. "You came here for something. What was it?"

Randall gave him a disappointed look. "Wanted to talk to you," he said. Somehow even with a new body and voice box to go with it, he still seemed to have the slightest hint of a New York accent when he said certain words. Aaron closed his eyes for a second and wrapped his paws around a beer glass. He could hardly remember the Big Apple.

"Look man. The guy had a lot of issues, alright. We kind of knew that from the beginning." Randall said, picking up his beer mug almost as soon as the waitress could put it down in front of him and sucking it down. He wiped the foam from his lips and gave Aaron a hard look, inviting a response.

"I can't fix that kind of thing Randall. Paranoia, PTSD, those sorts of things. It's beyond what I'm capable of," Aaron shook his head and took a drink of his own beer, making the end of his muzzle a soggy mess.

"So you think that we should have just left him to himself and watch him get worse? You're the medic out here. You're supposed to help folks like him." Randall admonished him sternly.

Aaron lifted his head and stared at Randall who was nonchalantly drinking his beer like their friend hadn't just jumped off the sixth story of some building downtown. He was right, but he was wrong at the same time. Not atypical for him.

"I'm a battlefield medic, Randall. I don't know how to fix those sorts of problems for people. I can fix you if you've got a bullet wound in your left lung, but I can't do anything about a broken mind. We all went through this. Every one of us had the same thing happen to us. I'm sorry that I can't fix it for everyone, and that it all came to this but I just can't do it all by myself. I'm just one person… or whatever I am now." He went back to his drink. Randall didn't respond to his remarks or pleas for logic. Eventually he pushed back from the table, slapped some bills down, enough to cover them both and then paused before grabbing his coat.

"You were there with us the whole time, and that put you closest to him. Just think about it when you get a chance. We're going to go by his place at the old building we all used to live at. You know he never moved out? Even after what happened to Shay and that old landlady there. Going to clean his stuff out and put the room back together. You should come help." With that, he slung his coat over his shoulders and pressed his way out the door.

* * *

The outside of the public housing building was pretty much the same as Aaron remembered it from before: fading red painted wood coming to splinters in places. He closed his eyes and remembered walking in to find the place taken apart, claw marks in the floor and a shattered picture in the hall. He pushed the door open with an expected breath in his lungs.

Inside the place the area looked nice. New wallpaper had gone up, and the floor had been buffed and polished, reflecting the higher wattage lighting from new bulbs in the lamp overhead. It looked like Miss Weathers or one of her sons had been busy since the night of the abduction. He hadn't been back since he and Shay had moved her few belongings out.

He climbed the stairs, following the sound of familiar voices. Farr's room had been the last one on the right, built into a corner of the hallway at an awkward angle. The others were inside the room already, taking it apart and sorting through the various items and debris that Farr had collected through his fleeting moment of being a cog in a machine he could never quite fit into, and that he couldn't quite figure out the big picture of.

Aaron walked in the cramped bedroom, scratched Shay on the back lightly and without words and stopped in front of a large secondhand suitcase that Farr had been using as a storage bin. He crouched down and lifted the lid. It was filled with various odds and ends, papers, magazines and assorted junk. Randall and Mary were busy taking similar items off the bookshelf; Mary wiped them down and was placing them in a cardboard box, while Shay worked on straightening out the bed listlessly.

"What are we doing with all this stuff?" Aaron gave the suitcase a weak kick and sorted through the objects inside with his eyes.

"See what's in there. Anything that looks like it might be worth saving we're going to give to charity." Mary sighed, polishing a glass vase with a rag in endless repetition, her movements unengaged and automatic.

Shay gave up on the bed and came to stand beside Aaron, a paw hugging his right arm.

"I still can't believe he'd go and do this. I know he was troubled, but this is taking it too far," she said, exasperated.

"I guess everyone deals with their problems in their own way, dear," Mary consoled her.

Shay just shook her head defiantly. "But this happened to all of us," she slapped her chest with her paw. "I went through hell and back and I'm a better person for it."

Randall took a picture frame down off the wall and handed it to his wife, turning to Shay with a face that was all hardened anger and sadness at the same time. It was the kind of expression Aaron had come to associate with the police chief, and screamed someone who thought of the whole world as broken.

"I hate that argument. Millions of people go through the grinder every day, some pull through and some don't. Surviving doesn't make you a better person," he sighed. "Maybe learning from it does, but there are plenty out there with shitty pasts that are shitty people."

Aaron bent down and rummaged through the suitcase. He couldn't deal with the argument over who was right, who was wrong and who deserved to take the blame for Farr being dead. He picked up a small stack of papers from inside the suitcase. They had been bound with a rubber band and were crumpled, dog-eared things. He sat down at the bed, wondering if Farr had left any deep thoughts that might make him feel better, or at least deservingly worse about everything and took the rubber band off, flipping the cover page over. It was certainly journal entries and thoughts that the ibix had left them, but he couldn't quite make sense of what he was reading at first, deciphering Farr's shaky handwriting and bad spelling.

_Sat out by the docks today. Stinks out here. Stinks so bad. I can smell everything. I know they did this to us. Just have to make the others see it. If I make them see it, it breaks the illusion. If it breaks the illusion than we can all go back to normal. No more wet fur smell._

A second page read:

_I saw him again today. A deer? Maybe a rain deer? He had that car. Nice car. Followed him when he went to talk to some guy. I know he's a guy, not a badger. Not a cockroach, not a mole, not a toaster, not a badger. None of them are really what they look like. They aren't really real. Wrote down the license plate. I'll keep it with my hidden stuff. That way they can't hurt me. 92GGX98_

_Saw it again.92GGX98. Driving down the road. Antlers inside. They turned a corner before I could catch them and they were gone before I could see them again. Just an illusion._

_They were driving out of town today. Drove right past me. I could smell the fish in their tires. The waterfront. The waterfronts. It smells like that all day. At night the smells are different. Conspiracy stinks. It comes out of the windows. They make it smell like bug spray. Remember that? Spraying DEET on your boots before you marched through the tall grass, singing Army caydense_ [sic] _songs. Of course you don't. You're stupid. They don't remember you now. They forgot you. You forgot yourself._

The ink on this page was smeared, and torn a little where Farr had pressed too hard down on the page. Aaron looked at the papers with a confused expression. Shay noticed him deep in concentration and sat on the bare mattress next to him. The other two noticed them reading, and soon all of them were leaned over and reading the papers.

_Went to the waterfront again today when the lies smell like chemicals and the windows glow. The car was there. He walked inside. Was in there a long time. I tried to look in the windows and see. I could remember the numbers on the building. They burned in my head when they went in. 7129 Riverview Street. River View. View the river. He came out of the back door. He saw me. I wanted to run but I didn't. What if there wasn't anywhere to run. It might just all be a small room and things to trip over. He sat down next to me at the river. We viewed the river. Told me who he was. Said he used to be a General with the Army, and he knew what had really happened. Told me that he understood feeling this way. I was weak. I cried. I told him about before. About the experiments and the machines and things I saw. He told me he knew about them. Said he'd be my friend. I could feel my brain melt._

Aaron read the last page in the stack out loud, his brow still furrowed. Something in that made him think of something.

"Where the lies smelled like bug spray…" He mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" Shay pressed into him. Aaron shook his head, trying to remember. Riverview Street. Randall was playing with his phone, and Aaron swiped it from him, a flashbulb going off in his head.

"Let me see that quick," he said, and opened the map and navigation app on the home screen. He typed in the address that Farr and written down. 7129 Riverview Street. The map scrolled automatically to a point near where Savanna Central and The Canal District met. He remembered lying on his belly across a warehouse, watching the windows of the building for suspicious activity.

"The warehouse," he mumbled to himself and stood up so fast the mattress bounced. He rolled the papers up in a paw and stuck them in a pocket, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Shay asked, following after him.

"I need to find Nick and Judy," he said and walked from the building into the cooling twilight streets.

[BREAK]—

It was almost completely dark out. Aaron was sitting on the couch at Nick and Judy's place, the almost unintelligible papers spread out on the coffee table in front of them. Nick had read the entries every way he could, including upside down, and still wasn't making sense of them.

"So, what does this have to do with us again?" Judy asked, squinting at Farr's atrocious handwriting and spelling. They both had read over the papers and were not getting the picture.

"I'm not completely sure," Aaron shook his head. "But look at this: "That address look familiar to you at all?" he tapped the street numbers with a claw tip and was met with shrugs and confused stares. "No? Because I looked it up on a map, and the last time you both went there, Nick ended up puking into a trashcan in the med bay a few hours after," he said, filling in the blanks for both of them. Nick's eyes went wide and he slowly rotated his head to stare down Aaron.

"The stake out," he whispered, the sclera of his eyes as visible as possible.

"Right!" Aaron said. "Look at this part too. ' _Conspiracy stinks. It comes out of the windows. They make it smell like bug spray.'_ That stuff we eventually recovered was an organophosphate base according to forensics. It's used as a bug spray. It's got a very distinct smell," Aaron was on a roll now. Both Nick and Judy could practically see the gears in his head turning and his eyes darting all over the place.

Judy waved a paw in the air in front of her face, gesturing a halt to the building excitement and put it on Aaron's arm. "Okay, that's great and all, but what does this have to do with Farr, aside from…what he did?" she cut herself off before she could speak further and risk putting a generous sized foot in her mouth.

"He tracked that car and this reindeer he mentioned to that same warehouse that we were staking out. I'm betting whoever that was knows something about this whole thing. There's a picture here, we just have to figure it out."

"Careful there," Nick cautioned.

"I know what you're going to say, so don't bother wasting your breath or my time," Aaron snarled. "There have been too many things going on since Graham for me to say that this is over."

"I don't see how this explains why your friend stepped off the roof of a building," Nick pointed out. "I mean, we never even did find out what that stuff inside the warehouse was used for."

Aaron coughed just slightly in reaction to the remark and silenced himself. There was an awkward silence for a moment. Judy and Nick both now turned their heads to Aaron and fixed their eyes on him, almost accusingly. "You know something?" Judy asked after a second, her voice chilly.

"I might have gotten some information. Maybe," Aaron choked the words out like he was being strangled with the invisible hand of truth. Now Judy stared at him so hard he thought her gaze would burn a hole in his head. Nick stood beside her with a hard-to-read, half disappointed, half confused frown and tapped his foot, arms folded across his chest.

"I got some papers from a source that claims to know what that chemical is and how it works!" The words almost exploded from Aaron in a rush of pent up air and tension.

"What?" Nick's jaw hung open. He almost couldn't believe that he was hearing this from him. There was no way that Aaron had come up with this kind of information and just not thought it would be important enough to tell him. "What is that stuff, and what does it do?" Nick asked his question, direct and clear.

"I can't verify that any of this information is useful or accurate," Aaron sputtered.

"That's not what we asked, Aaron. What does that stuff do?" Now Judy was on the offensive too. It was funny how "the look" that a lady could give a man worked across the species barrier. Aaron was cornered now. He swore that if he found Jack again he was going to tie him by the ears to the bumper of a cruiser and go for a joy ride. He swallowed hard, wishing he had the document to back up his argument.

"We…they, rather think it is a neurotoxin," he said.

"A neurotoxin?" Judy echoed back. "And who are 'they'?"

Aaron nodded uncomfortably. It felt way too hot in the room now, and he wished that he could remove his shirt and fur at the same time. "The source of this analysis. Now, I have no way of telling if this is real or not, it might all be made up to throw me off. The papers suggest that the end product of whatever they were making in there could mimic rabies."

The world could have stopped turning with the frozen glances in the room. Nick and Judy looked at each other, and then to the papers and back again, Aaron following the eyes and not sure where to go. Then everything flew into chaos, as all three of them started to argue, fingers being pointed, papers referenced, and accusations flung, mostly at Aaron.

"Alright, enough!" Judy screamed. The room froze again. Judy looked from Aaron, to Nick and back to Aaron. "Why did you hold on to this?"

Aaron took a second to count to ten in his head and collect his thoughts. He leaned way over to the bunny, towering over her and spoke slowly, deliberately. "It is unreliable information. The source I got it from has a whole lot to gain by making me believe this. There was not enough reason for me to throw every half-baked paper of theories at the department, and this wouldn't have even come up if Farr was still alive. The only thing that even links this by a thread is Farr's disjointed ramblings. I guess I was wrong about what I thought was not important."

"Who is this 'source' of yours?" she asked.

Aaron held his tongue. After the way the meeting had become such a fervent argument he was now highly reluctant to spill the story about what had happened. Then again, if she found out herself, that would probably be a worse conversation to be had. He wasn't trying to be dishonest with them, but he was stuck in the middle of what was the right thing to do. If he was right about Farr's death being related to all the strange happenings in Zootopia this might shed light on what was really going on. If he was wrong, and Jack was really trying to throw them off, this might just get them all barking up the wrong tree long enough for things to get worse. He decided to take a chance, and told them both.

"What in the name of sweet…" Judy scowled, buried her face in her paws and stormed off toward the bedroom. Aaron did not follow; while Nick just stood there looking self-satisfied with the way things had gone.

"So, that went well," he grinned.

"Oh, be quiet," Aaron stood with his arms crossed and back turned to Nick, pouting. This had not gone the way he imagined it would.

"So, I'm wondering what your point in this is?" Nick wandered into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle out of the fridge and popped the cap off of it. "I mean, what's your endgame here?"

Aaron rounded on Nick as he walked back into the living room with a casual saunter. "My endgame here is to find out what happened. You and I both know there has been some mighty strange stuff going on since Graham died, and I want to know who's at the center of it all. First, you and half the department gets sick investigating that warehouse, and Bhara and I get the place sorted out and it's like some mystery manufacturing center. Whoever was running that place doesn't want anyone else to know what was there. Then we get the two rabid animals just roaming around downtown, Savage-bunny there tries to steal my computer saying he's under some super-black contract for this dangerous contractor and now Farr is dead with some notes that point back at the warehouse! I've told you before: this is all connected and it seems like the only other one who was maybe getting the picture is dead." Aaron puffed with exasperation. "I want to find out how this is linked. If Jack was right about this and he really is as over his head as he claims to be, then we're dealing with something serious."

"So, what are you going to do about it? Seems like you're trying to hold all the cards here." Nick sipped at his drink and sat down on the couch daintily, crossing his legs and grinning at Aaron.

"I'm not holding the cards here, I'm just filtering the bullshit till I see fit. I want to go check the warehouse, see if I can locate that car. I might be able to catch that reindeer and get something out of him."

"You aren't a detective!" Judy yelled from the back bedroom.

"She's got you there, you know?" Nick pointed at Aaron with the lip of his beer bottle.

Aaron stiffened. "That didn't stop you when you were looking for that Otterton guy!" he shouted back. He heard a muffled cry of indignation.

"Okay, I get that," he said, trying to move forward. "But there has to be more to this. I'm just missing something."

"Well, if you figure it out just don't forget to keep us little guys in the loop, huh?" Nick flashed an award-winning smile that made Aaron want to punch him in the teeth, and walked back toward the bedroom.

* * *

The next day found Aaron sitting in the med bay following drill with the team. He had distracted himself with training well enough for the first half of the shift, running some complex urban scenario where nothing went right by design, and he'd been dragging 'injured' officer trainees that had been volunteered from the latest academy program back to a makeshift triage area and operating a one-man trauma center. The remainder of the day had had nothing going on for him and he spent the day ruminating over Farr and what his notes meant. He doodled on a piece of scrap paper with ways that the neurotoxin, Farr and this unknown reindeer associate might have had a deeper connection than what was known on the journal entries. He was so deep in concentration that when his desk phone rang, he jerked, hitting the underside of his desk with his knees.

The display on the phone wasn't an internal number, or any one that he recognized. "Wireless Caller" was all the ID said. He massaged his sore knees and picked the phone up, trying not to sound as alarmed as he made himself.

"Hello?" he said, a cool tone to his voice.

"Arron?" came the nasally response. He recognized the voice almost at once.

"Dr. Nunez. Hi there. What can I do for you?" It wasn't unheard of for the city coroner to contact him, in particular with everything that had happened recently, but he was unsure why the wildebeest hadn't just called him from the hospital where the morgue was located.

"I was wondering if you would have a moment sometime to come by and speak with me?" Nunez said.

"I can sir, yes. What's going on?"

"This is something we need to discuss face to face. Do you have some time in about an hour?" he asked. Aaron looked up at the wall clock. He could make it to the office in time of course, but was a bit suspicious of the secrecy. Given the way his day had been going however, something to take his mind off things would be a welcome diversion.

"Yes sir. Let me grab my things and I'll head right over."

"Excellent." Nunez responded, his accented voice emphasizing the consonants in the word.

Aaron put his bag together, left a phone message with the chief saying that he was going to be out of the office for the afternoon to go over to the hospital, and headed for the door.

Almost exactly Forty-five minutes later, Aaron stepped through the cool, brightly lit doors of the morgue at Zootopia General Hospital, smelling coffee and formaldehyde. Dr. Nunez was sitting in his office with another mammal, a horse with a satchel bag, glasses and a notepad. He thought he recognized him from the station, but wasn't sure. Nunez waved him in through the glass doors before Aaron could knock.

"Mr. Ledbetter, come on in. Have a seat. Coffee?" He motioned to a ceramic mug that Aaron had seen him drinking from just a second ago.

"No, thank you. I'm trying to cut back," he feigned a polite decline and looked at the horse. He stood a decent bit taller than Aaron and was a pleasant chestnut brown, with a white, elongated diamond that ran down the center of the bridge of his nose and blonde manesu. "You look familiar, have we met?"

The horse extended a hand. "Detective Oates. First Precinct. Homicide." He introduced himself plainly.

' _Of course that's your name.'_ Aaron thought.

"So, what brings you out to the land of the dead?" Aaron asked.

Nunez shifted in his chair, a casual maneuver. "I was hoping to talk to you about your friend, Steven Farr?" Aaron squirmed. The entire situation suddenly felt uncomfortable. "I'm so terribly sorry to hear about what happened."

"Thank you." Aaron chewed on his lower lip, nervously.

Oates flipped open his notepad and turned his attention to Aaron. "We had been discussing some findings that Dr. Nunez had brought up from the mandated autopsy. We both figured that you deserved to be kept in the loop about what was going on, given your position with the department and your association with him.

Aaron nodded. "Of course. Is there something wrong?"

"I found a few inconstancies when I did his autopsy. Some things that require the detective's attention."

Aaron's ear flicked and he darted his eyes between the two.

"I want to let you know that an investigation into Mr. Farr's death has been opened," Oates interjected. "This is strictly informal. I just wanted to let you know what was going on before things went too far and the rumor mill started up. I wouldn't want you to be taken by surprise of anything, but we do need to keep this under wraps while we investigate what may have happened."

"Acknowledged," said Aaron. "Can you please just tell me what's going on? I sort of want to put this behind me. It's been a shock to me and his other friends."

Oates set down his pad, which had a set of crude drawings, as well as a set of photographs, taken from the scene where Farr's body had been found.

"We have some reason to believe that Mr. Farr may not have jumped from the building. It's possible he may have been pushed," Oates said.

Aaron swallowed hard. Farr's death had been difficult to come to grips with as a suicide, but the implication that he had been murdered was even more shocking.

"I see," Aaron said after a moment of silence. "Detective, I had gotten to know Farr shortly after the Incident. He had a very hard time adjusting to the… changes we all experienced. We all did. I suppose some of us were able to develop coping skills better than others."

"We understand that. I've been looking over the hospital records from back when for a day now. There's just too many other problems with this for me to fully rule that he took his own life," said Nunez. He lined a set of pictures up facing Aaron on his side of the desk and pointed at them in turn.

"The biggest thing that the detective and I have seen so far is where he landed. You can see here that he came down right at the base of the building. The problem with this is that suicide jumpers don't normally step right off the edge. That only happens in movies. Most of the time they get a running start. He almost would have had to have given the one-foot ledge that ran around the roof perimeter. You can also see where he hit the side of the building, here, here, and here," Nunez pointed to photos where the brick wall had been scuffed, and circled on the photos in red wax pencil. The very last one seemed to have a thin streak of blood.

"I see," answered Aaron, staring intensely at the pictures.

"The other problem, and the one that made me decide to get in touch with the precinct was that Mr. Farr had some matter in his right hand, stuck to him. "I found a sample of some fur, where he appears to have grabbed something. It's not his fur." Nunez gave a serious look at Aaron. He reached into his desk and brought up a small, clear plastic cylinder with a white screw-on lid and passed it over to Aaron.

Aaron held it to his right eye and inspected it closely. It was a forest brown, with strands of white undercoat in it. Very short and stiff looking.

"Do you know who this belongs to?" Aaron asked, still looking through the plastic.

"No, we don't and that's the problem." Oates admitted.

"I saw us pull DNA-based profile data from someone recently by using a fur sample. Have we done that yet?" pointed out Aaron.

"We have, yes," Nunez responded and took the container back from Aaron's paw. "We didn't get any matches to it. This means it's someone we don't have in the database at this time. It's an old, yet refined technique. Not a perfect one however. We managed to narrow it down by species from other characteristics and DNA markers. Appears to be a reindeer, or at least a very similar ungulate."

Aaron's eyes went wide and all his conspiracy theories came back to him at the same time, clouding his thoughts. He analyzed everything internally at the same time.

"Is everything okay, Ledbetter?" Oates asked, watching Aaron over the top of his glasses.

Aaron stood up and grabbed his pack, shaking hands with Oates. "Thank you both for this information. I need to get going," he said, brisk and plain.

"What do you need to do?" asked Nunez.

"I need to go talk to the chief. I may have information that might help with some problems that we've had in the city recently. Detective Oates, I may need to call you in for a favor. Someone to back me up with some information. I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can speak to Chief Bogo. Thank you both for your time," he hustled back out the door, leaving the two officials to scratch their heads.

* * *

The chief's office was crowded already, and the circulating hostility in the room was making it feel smaller. Aaron was standing in the center of the room on the green striped carpet while Bogo glowered over him from his desk like a judge in session. Oates had accompanied Aaron to the meeting and sat on the right-side wall, legs crossed and leaning back in his chair, casual but seeming disengaged given all the news that had come out. Nick and Judy had, of course, shown up as well, and flanked Aaron from behind while it seemed everyone had taken turns criticizing or yelling at Aaron for his oversight in holding the papers supplied by Jack. It had been a grueling hour-long meeting that he had called, and at this point the endless raised voices exasperated him.

"Would you forget about the rabbit for a second sir?" Aaron leaned forward and held out his paws in a pleading gesture. "Look, if this turns out to be real, I'll drop the charges myself."

"This doesn't excuse the fact that you not only saw him, you had him and didn't tell anyone!" Bogo growled back at Aaron. If the dark complexion of his face hadn't masked it, Aaron thought he'd be turning red.

"Again, I understand that, and I realize from my discussion with officer's Hopps and Wilde that it was the wrong thing to do. I thought I was preventing us from digging through garbage that wasn't relevant."

"Let's get back to where we were going with all this before we got off track," Oates said with a yawn. "How do you think all of this is connected to the death of your friend?"

"Right, sure." Aaron smoothed back his mane and stepped up to the desk, Judy and Nick jumping up onto a chair next to him for visibility. Bogo sat back in his seat with a harrumph, but gave them all some space. Using his pen, Aaron drew on a piece of paper on the desk.

Aaron went back over everything they had known already, recounting most of the conversation with Nick and Judy at their place the other night. He wrote down some labels for the events, circled them, and connected them with a line. "If we go off these papers, this warehouse we staked out is likely the same place that the chemical used to get Sanders and Snyder was made."

"Do we know that though?" Nick asked, looking at the growing web of lines and circles. Aaron laid the analysis papers out on the desk, and sorted through them, finding a section that showed the proposed chemical synthesis pathway.

"Here it is: alpha-Naphthyl N-methylcarbamate, precursor chemical for making the final product. So yes, we do know that." Aaron pointed at one of the lines in the chemical pathway. Nick looked at it cross-eyed and tried to make sense of what he'd been told. In the end he simply agreed and Aaron continued.

"Sanders and Snyder were both refugees, I know we figured that part out." Oates pointed out.

"Right. I still don't know how that connects them though. We don't know what they did, or how that's relevant," Aaron said, launching back into the recap of what happened to Farr and what Nunez told him. "Did we figure anything else out about Farr and his death?" Aaron queried.

"No, nothing yet. Investigation doesn't have a lot to go on," the horse admitted.

"I'm pretty sure this is all related in some way," said Aaron, showing the others his spider-web of connected ideas.

"Let's assume that you are in some way correct, Ledbetter." Bogo frowned. "What are we supposed to do about it? Having a good conspiracy theory sounds good for a story, but not something that I'm going to commit the department's time to."

All of them looked at each other in silence, not able to answer the question. Aaron had hoped this would get taken more seriously and they could have some brainstorming, but placing blame and fighting stood in the way of productivity.

"We could check the warehouse again, see if anything has changed," suggested Judy, an air of caution in her voice.

"I have a better idea," interjected Oates. "I have some contacts still embedded with the… seedier elements of the city. Mammals we keep in place to let us know about what's going on in the underworld. I could tap them for any information. If an ibex with a history of mental trauma can find this group, I'm sure someone that's a bit more sharp-minded might know something."

Aaron ignored the disparaging remark about Farr and looked back at the chief who still didn't look convinced.

"Fine, do that and report back to me. I'll speak with you again if we find something that's usable." Bogo snatched the paper from his desk, studied it and then placed it in a desk drawer, dismissing the other staff members with a wave.

* * *

"You're nuttier than a damn squirrel! No way am I doing that!" Finnick's deep, unnaturally gravelly voice echoed off the walls of the ramshackle home. Nick leaned against the edge of a small chair, propping himself up, while Evan Tekari sat cross-legged on the living room floor, looking cramped. It had been three days since the meeting with the chief and now they had one last hurdle to jump over to close out this problem for good.

"C'mon! You're the only one that can pull this off. We need you. It's just a quick in and out job," Nick implored him. The hour was getting late, and he'd had to do everything he could to convince the fennec fox to let him and Evan come inside. It wasn't so much the reservation of letting a tiger in his home as much as letting a second cop in.

"Why you need to have me for this? I ain't the only fennec in the city, ya know!" Finnick snarled, watching Evan over his shoulder with an eye of distrust.

"That's the whole reason. You aren't the only fennec fox in the city. This guy at the swap is also a fennec and he looks a lot like you." Evan said, trying to keep up his chipper attitude. Nick was right, they needed him one way or another.

"Oh, so now we all look the same. That what you're trying to say?" Finnick spat back.

Evan held up a paw. "Maybe not all of you, but this guy does. We can make this work if you help us."

"Why's this even something you need to do. Gotta get your quota up for arrests by the end of the year? Make you feel like heroes or something?"

Nick sighed and rubbed his face. "Okay, listen. I'll run this by you again. I told you about all the stuff with the warehouse and all that."

"Yeah, I heard you. Still don't answer my question."

"Okay, so the whole thing is that we had a mole with one of those underground groups. The kind that know how to get things, like we used to run with," explained Nick. Finnick scowled at Nick and waved his tiny paws.

"You trying to get me arrested or something? Cut it out!"

Evan just shrugged. "Hey, I'm off duty. We just have to get this figured out. What Wilde's trying to say is that we got word from this mole that there was some group that was looking to sell some guns. A whole bunch of them, in fact. This underground group wants guns, they have money. It got our attention when we found out that location for the swap was going to be at the warehouse and who they were sending."

Finnick swiped the air with a paw. "I ain't getting involved in guns and those mafia types. I'm strictly small time stuff. Who's this seller anyway? Why they got so many guns?"

"That's the thing," Evan said. "We don't know, but we've got some evidence that says they might have been responsible for a few murders already. I don't know why they want to offload all this stuff, but we're dealing with some scary mammals all of a sudden and we want to stop them."

"Oh, wonderful. They're scary and you want me to go in and pretend to be the buyer, huh? Then what? Just wait till I get shot or somethin'?" said Finnick.

"Just relax buddy," Nick reassured him. "That's where we come in. We're going to handle all that ourselves. Or, at least, he is," he pointed at Evan. "We sent a message through this mole that the underground would buy the guns, we send you in to pose as the buyer. Once the money changes paws, the rest of them swoop in, surround the place and we're done."

"And arrest me for whatever else you feel like in the process, huh?"

"We're not really in the habit of burning our assets," Evan pointed out.

"Yeah, besides, nobody is going to get hurt. They've got like, a million SWAT officers. It'll be over before they even know what hit them. Just walk in, hand them the money and then let us deal with the rest," Nick explained, a somewhat convincing salesman smile on his face.

"What's in this for me? I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart. You know that Nick," said Finnick.

Nick exchanged a look with Evan that exchanged a lot more information than words could have. He pulled a pen and a slip of paper out of the pocket of his khaki pants.

"We can get you some of the money that's supposed to be used for this gun deal." Nick's grin grew broader as he dangled the proverbial carrot in front of his old friend's face.

"How much?"

Nick wrote down a figure on the scrap of paper and held it front of Finnick's face. The smaller fox's eyes grew wide when he read it. He grabbed the paper from Nick's paws greedily, and stuffed in in the pocket of his shorts.

"Alright, I'll do it. Now get out of here before someone sees you," he said, motioning Nick and the tiger to the door."


End file.
